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article link - http://www.dailyxpress.net/2008/06/03/ente...inment_2626.php
'SABAIDEE LUANG PRABANG'
Cultural revival
By Parinyaporn Pajee
Daily Xpress, Vientiane
Published on June 3, 2008
Laos' first commercial film in more than three decades opens in Thai cinemas on Thursday
The Culture Hall in the Laotian capital was packed for the world premiere last week of the first commercially produced Laotian movie in 35 years.
"Sabaidee Luang Prabang" ("Hello Luang Prabang"), starring Australian-Lao heartthrob Ananda Everingham and Laotian beauty Khamly Philavong, is co-produced by Thailand's Sparta Company and music label Lao Art Media and directed by Thai Sakchai Deenan and Laotian Anousone Sirisackda.
"The audience really appreciated the fact that the characters represented Laos, in terms of their accents, culture and points of view," said Anousone.
The film tells the story of Sorn (Ananda), an Australian- Laotian photographer on assignment in Laos who finds himself attracted to his guide Noi (Khamly). He decides to trace his father's roots and asks Noi to travel with him from Pakse in the south up to Luang Prabang.
Mortgaged house
Sakchai came up with the idea for the film while travelling from his native Surin to Pakse.
He had problems financing the project until the intervention of young Ubon Ratcha-thani businessman Nattakool Muthukan, who mortgaged his house and land to fund the project. "I saw the potential and it didn't seem a lot of money. My family doesn't agree. They are still upset," Nattakool says.
Shot over 13 days in Pakse, Vientiane and Luang Prabang, Anousone was careful to ensure the story stayed within the bounds of Lao culture.
"In our society, kids don't wai when they see their mothers, they give her a hug," he says.
Ananda waived his fee, but took credit as a producer to share in any profits.
"I'm half Lao so it's a great opportunity for me to be involved with the project," he says. "I don't expect much income. I think we have to wait for the country to grow economically."
XTRA
Look At Laos
>> "Sabaidee Luang Prabang" opens in Thai cinemas on Thursday, and in Laos on June 9.
>> The soundtrack is in Lao with English and Thai subtitles.
