If you’re in withdrawal now that the 27th Singapore International Film Festival 2016 has ended, you have two days left to catch the Luang Prabang Film Festival (LPFF). Founded in 2010 by Gabriel Kuperman, the Luang Prabang Film Festival has been dubbed the Sundance of Southeast Asia. Only minus the sub-zero temperature and celebrities looking for credibility.
Featuring films from 10 SEA countries, the Luang Prabang Film Festival works with a network of 9 regional Motion Picture Ambassadors – on the ground film critics and industry insiders – who suggest films for screening.
Luang Prabang, located in North Lao was the ancient capital of Luang Prabang Province. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in1995, but has largely escaped the frenzy of
commercialisation that has doomed other such sites. The town does not have a working cinema, which means that you get to watch these amazing Southeast Asian films sitting under the stars on the bank of Southeast Asia’s longest river, the Mekong. Beats scratchy wool underwear anytime.
For more information and screening schedule, visit the Luang Prabang Film Festival official site.
Selected articles about the Luang Prabang Film Festival
“Myanmar Director Takes His Film to Luang Prabang (Myanmar Times)
“Ancient City Stages Film Festival without a Cinema” (Nikkie Asian Review)
“Sundance of Southeast Asia” (The Wals Street Journal)
“Luang Prabang Film Festival on Building the “Sundance of Asia” (The Hollywood Reporter)
About the author(s)
Kathy Rowland is the Managing Editor of ArtsEquator.com, a registered charity that she co-founded with Jenny Daneels in 2016. The site is dedicated to supporting and promoting arts criticism with a regional perspective in Southeast Asia. Kathy has worked in the arts for over 25 years, working in the areas of critical writing and arts advocacy, with a special interest in media platforms for the arts. She is the Project Lead for ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asian Arts and Culture Censorship Documentation Project, launched in 2021. She has written extensively on censorship of arts and culture in Malaysia. She was a member of the International Programme Advisory Committee of the 8th World Summit on Arts and Culture, 2019.