The Lao film industry is severely lacking in content, producing only 3-4 films per year. Because of this, Lao citizens instead engage with foreign (mostly Thai) content, which does not allow them to see themselves represented on the screen. Additionally, Laos' current film industry is too small to be reflective of its population's incredible diversity.
As media representation allows people to imagine multitudes of possible realities for themselves and others, LPFF believes it is crucial to the country's development of an inclusive cultural narrative.
Through Lao Identities on Film, LPFF gives small grants (up to $15,000) towards Lao film projects. In selecting the grantees, LPFF prioritizes applications from, and stories about, marginalized people, such as women, the young, elderly, LGBTQIA+, and ethnic minorities.
While the program aims to increase the amount of content made for Lao people by Lao people, it also functions as a training process for Lao filmmakers seeking international funding and platforms. In applying for Lao Identities on Film funding, filmmakers are asked to present:
a budget for their production
a short summary of the film plot
a description of team members
target audience
a distribution plan
Through having to formulate their film ideas in a specific, focused way, filmmakers learn to become the best possible advocates for their projects, and gain valuable fundraising experience.
In the 2018 Lao Identities on Film cycle, LPFF funded three projects:
Expiration Date, directed by Anysay Keola, produced by Vannaphone Sitthirath.
This project fiction feature film about a road trip with Khaun, a woman seeking revenge for her best friend, and Khai, a man with the ability to foresee the end of relationships. Both the plot of the film and the project’s production team center women. This film’s team is experimenting with a new business model. This model strives to circumvent the necessity for commercial sponsorship. Instead, the crew invest in the project, getting box office revenue shares in return. This project had a successful theatrical run in Laos in 2019.
Raising a Beast, directed by Xaisongkham Induangchanthy
A feature-length coming-of-age family drama about a Hmong sister and brother, and their efforts to support their family by grooming a bull into a prize fighter. The grant supported the film’s pre-production phase. During this time, the team conducted extensive primary research on Hmong experiences.
Flame of Fire, directed by Somchit Kittisack
A short fiction film about two young boys struggling to maintain their friendship despite diverging life paths. Somchit’s story features Khmu characters, centering a minority ethnic group in Laos.
The projects deal with multiple marginalized identities: women, youth, and ethnic minorities.
For Voice Phase I (2018) Lao Identities on Film, LPFF’s Board of Directors selected two projects by established Lao filmmakers. The filmmakers’ previous successes with projects, as well as LPFF’s existing relationship with them, made us confident in their ability to complete the films.
As the third Lao Identities on Film grantee was less experienced, LPFF paired him with a more established Lao filmmaker to act as a mentor for the project, reformulating the production process as an educational tool.
One of the grantees’ budgets was significantly larger than the possible grant amount; the Lao Identities on Film funds allowed him to move through the pre-production process, but as he’s still fundraising for the production, the film has not been made.
To ensure the project’s success, LPFF selected cohesive, well-formulated submissions as grantees. Unfortunately there was a general lack of sophistication in the submissions pool, which meant that LPFF was not able to support stories that focus on all of the target marginalized identities.
Moving forward, LPFF aims to create more Lao-language resources to assist the applicants with the submission process. LPFF also wants to build on the success of its industry development efforts by providing more emerging filmmakers with mentors as a condition of their grant. Additionally, LPFF aims to move towards a more standardised structure for reviewing submissions, in order to neutralise the possible biases in reviews.
