The Lao New Wave Cinema production team expects to hold a premiere screening of its new film, At the Horizon, before the end of the year.
The film, which is currently in post-production following the completion of shooting, was written and directed by Mr Anysay Keola, who is currently studying at Julalongkorn University in Thailand. “I began studying a Master of Arts and Film with aspirations to create and develop a Lao film. I decided that I didn’t really have to wait until I graduated to make this film, so I came back to Laos and started assembling a production crew,” he said.
The film tells the tale of Sin, a young man in his early twenties who comes from an affluent family. He is spoiled by his parents and lives an indulgent and carefree lifestyle, without knowing what it means to live independently and support himself.
The young man relies on his parents’ wealth and power, and many people see him as arrogant and pompous. One night when out drinking with his friends, his abrasive character lands him in a fight. Sin tries to escape by running away. He loses track of time for a while and when he comes to he finds himself chained up, half starved and dying of thirst. He has been beaten within an inch of his life.
Mr Anysay said most of the scenes in the film are based on real life events, to which he brings his own particular perspective and interpretation of Lao society.
At the Horizon pioneers new ground in Lao filmmaking history, as it is the first film produced in the country to use open source technology, which means that anybody with a passion for film can contribute to the production effort, from pre-production right up to the final stages of the process. Enthusiasts can also help with fundraising, setting up fan pages on Facebook and various other promotional activities.
“The good thing was that we were able to put a good team together. Because I knew that making this movie was going to be unprofitable at first, I was glad to be able to find people with similar ideas and inspirations as me, with a passion to produce a high quality Lao film,” Mr Anysay said.
“Most of the production crew are old friends of mine and others I was able to find online. The assistant director, Mr Xaisongkham Induangchanthy, saw one of my short films online and emailed me to say he wanted to join the team. The first film we made together was Another Love Story, which recently received the Young Thai Artist Award,” he said.
“Mr Thanavorakit Kounthawatphinyo was the director of photography. I had seen his work before; he has made some amazing Lao music videos and he has a unique style. I was glad we were able to get him to come on board. And we had a bit of help from some foreign film enthusiasts as well.”
Mr Anysay explained that the idea of making the film came into his head a few years ago, but it only really started to come together in the last year, when he started writing the script and looking around for a production crew.
“We’ve faced many challenges, particularly casting the main actors, because there is not really any film industry to speak of here. In other countries you would just go directly to the casting agencies, but we were fortunate enough to unearth some very talented local actors who did a marvelous job,” he said.
“The film took 19 days to shoot. On some days we started shooting at 6am and didn’t finish till 6am the following morning. We only had permission to shoot for one day at certain locations, so we had to push things through as quickly as possible.”
“Overall the shooting went pretty well, and we didn’t have any major set-backs, but I don’t really want to say that I’m totally satisfied with the film just yet, because it is still in post-production. We still have to make sure all the colours and sounds are just right, and that it flows well from one scene to the next. We still have a bit of polishing up to do.”
Mr Anysay said he wants to thank everyone involved in the film’s production, “from the cast and crew all the way down to the catering staff. Everyone played their own part in putting this film together, and I hope we can make them proud when the film premieres sometime towards the end of the year.”
Lao New Wave Cinema is a group of film professionals and enthusiasts with similar ideas and beliefs, all of whom have a passion to develop the filmmaking industry in Laos, in order to capture the essence of Lao society.
Vientiane Times
Phoonsab Thevongsa
Chanthavong Phouvanh from Laos
