Introduction - SEAsite - Northern Illinois University

Friday, May 20, 2005
Film Ftival
Northern Illinois University
Visual Arts Building
DeKalb, IL USA
6:45 – 10:00 pm
Hosted By: S. Steve Arounsack
President, Pacifi c ARC Media LLC
(www.pacifi carc.com)
Welcome to the film festival portion of the First International Conference on Lao Studies. Films
will be shown concurrently in three rooms. Below is the schedule of films and their show times.
Please meet at the Visual Arts Building room 100 first for a brief introduction.
Note: The First International Conference on Lao Studies committee and Pacific ARC Media LLC
does not necessarily endorse or promote the views expressed by these films. We have made
every attempt to provide a canvas for a broad range of perspectives, ranging from independent
fi lmmakers to larger production groups. The audience is invited to form their own opinion. The
fi lm festival portion of the conference is organized by the Lao Studies committee members.
PROGRAM A
Visual Arts Building, Room 100
Feature Presentations. Two classic films that
depict life in the homeland.
6:45 pm Introduction by Steve Arounsack
and Dara Viravong Kanlaya (script writer of
Bua Daeng)
7:00 pm
Bua Daeng (Red Lotus)
Run time: 85 min.
Language: Lao with English subtitles
Producer: Somouk Suthiphon
Lao PDR, 1988
Based on scripts written by Dara Kalaya,
the story follows a young woman, Bua
Daeng, who lives in rural Laos before and
during the communist uprising. The story
is set in the 1960s and follows important
events in her life: finding a husband, surviving
the chaos of warfare, and enduring
everyday life. Throughout it all, Bua Daeng
is portrayed as having all the characteristics
of an ideal Lao
woman: smart,
beautiful, virtuous,
skillful in
handicrafts, and
above all the
love of Communist
ideologies,
thus the name
Bua Daeng or
Red Lotus—the
color of communism.
PROGRAM B
Visual Arts Building, Room 102
The Journey. These films focus on the circumstances
of the exodus from the motherland.
References are made to the war and
its aftermath.
7:00 pm
Bombies
Run time: 57 min. Language: English
Director: Jack Silberman
Producer: Lumiere Productions, USA, 2000
Between 1964 and 1973 the United States
conducted a secret air war, dropping over
2 million tons of bombs and making tiny
Laos the most heavily bombed country in
history. Millions of these ‘cluster bombs’
did not explode when dropped, leaving
the country massively contaminated with
‘bombies’ as dangerous now as when they
fell a quarter century ago. Bombies examines
the problem of unexploded cluster
bombs through the personal experiences
of a group of Laotians and foreigners and
argues for their elimination as a weapon
of war.
8:05 pm
The Leaf, Not Yet Falling
Run time: 13 min.
Language: Lao with English subtitles
Producer: Vannasone Keodara, USA, 2002
Memories are very precarious: good
memories can fade with time,
while haunted ones remain.
The Leaf, Not Yet Falling is a
documentary film of a little girl’s
sweet childhood memories of
her homeland, Laos, her bitter
experiences during the Communist
Regime and the involvement
of the American CIA
during the secret air war era. It
recaptures over two decades of
experiences living in exile.
PROGRAM C
Visual Arts Building Room, 103
Modern identity. Acculturation and finding
one’s identity are explored. Relationships
and the struggles of “fitting in” are central
themes.
7:00 pm
Kelly Loves Tony
Run time: 57 min.
Language: English/Mien
Producer: Spencer Nakasako, USA, 1998
Seventeen year-old Kelly Saeteurn has a
dream—she calls it her “American dream.”
As a fresh high school graduate on her way
to college, she envisions a rosy future for
herself. Kelly is the first in her family of Iu-
Mien refugees from Laos to have accomplished
as much as she already has, but
her dreams exist in sharp contrast to her
reality. She is also pregnant. Her boyfriend
Tony is a junior high drop out and ex-con.
The brutal honesty of this film’s footage and
dialogue offers viewers a rare glimpse into
the lives of two young people struggling to
make their relationship work in the face of
overwhelming obstacles like parenthood,
gender issues and cultural and educational
differences.
8:00 pm
Blue Collar and Buddha
Run time: 57 min.
Language: English/Lao, USA, 1987
This is a dramatic documentary depicting
the plight of America’s most recent
refugees, who must struggle against the
hostility developed in the post-Vietnam era.
Their attempts to preserve their culture and
religious heritage are met with several terrorist
attacks against their Buddhist temple.
By documenting the opinions of townspeople
and American officials, the film depicts
America’s attitudes towards refugees and
immigrants.