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The 5th Vientianale Film Festival opened at the National Culture Hall in Vientiane Capital on 12 March 2015.
“This year is meaningful in the history of the Lao PDR and ASEAN as we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Party, the 40th anniversary of the Lao PDR and the integration of the Lao PDR and other ASEAN members into the ASEAN Economic Community,” said Mr Bounchom Vongphet, Director of the Department of Cinema.
“I was very happy and honoured to see the Vientianale International Film Festival taking place for the fifth time from 12 to 15 March 2015,” said Mr Bounchom.
(KPL) The 5th Vientianale Film Festival opened at the National Culture Hall in Vientiane Capital on 12 March 2015.
“This year is meaningful in the history of the Lao PDR and ASEAN as we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Party, the 40th anniversary of the Lao PDR and the integration of the Lao PDR and other ASEAN members into the ASEAN Economic Community,” said Mr Bounchom Vongphet, Director of the Department of Cinema.
“I was very happy and honoured to see the Vientianale International Film Festival taking place for the fifth time from 12 to 15 March 2015,” said Mr Bounchom.
“Our mission is to promote filmmaking in Laos and to share the best of international filmmaking with our Vientiane audience,” said Ms Margarete Magiera, Co-Director of Vientianale Film Festival.
“We truly are an international film festival, with films from almost 30 countries screening over the next few days” said Ms Margarete at the opening.
“We at Vientianale view film as an important creative tool; a medium to inspire, delight, educate, and challenge perceptions. This year’s festival features feature length and short films spanning the genres of drama, comedy, environment, animation, documentary, science fiction, horror and music –each film tells a story that we hope will both engage and entertain,” said Ms Margarete.
“Tonight we open the 2015 Vientianale Film Festival with a new short film from young Lao filmmaker Vilayphong Phongsavah, two-time winner of our short film competition. We then revisit classic Bouadeng-a gem of early Lao filmmaking that was one of the first feature films made in country,” Ms Margarete explained.
“We would like to thank our long-time festival partners at the Cinema Department and our donors whose support continues to allow the Vientianale International Film Festival to operate as a free event for the Vientiane community,” added Ms Margarete.
The event was attended by the Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Buagneun Saphouvong, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Laos, Mr Lee Gun-Tae, the French Ambassador to Laos, Mr Yves Carmona, the German Ambassador to Laos, Mr Michael Grau, and representatives of International Organisations.
Night-time screenings feature award winning films such as the Oscar winner ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, a trip down memory lane with Laos' 1988 feature film ‘Bouadeng’ (Red Lotus), a new Australian horror film ‘The Babadook’, Swiss comedy “The Big Wave” about radio journalists trying to find a good story but stumbling into an uprising instead, a Palestinian love story set against the backdrop of divided Jerusalem called ‘Omar’, a Japanese animation classic ‘Summer Wars’, as well as the Indonesian docudrama ‘Jalanan’, the story of three street musicians trying to make it in Jakarta.
Daytime screenings at the Cinema Department's own movie theatre are geared towards students and families, with a focus on entertainment and education. Enjoy the award winning Swiss documentary ‘More than Honey’ about the importance of bees for our own survival, Thailand's first 3D animation film ‘Echo Planet’ about the environmental challenges facing us all, a special insight into contemporary Italian animation shorts, and a “best of” selection from Interfilm Berlin – Germany's biggest short film festival – handpicked by Interfilm director Heinz Hermanns.
KPL
