Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Rediscovering Southeast Asia's Lost Movie Houses


Phil Jablon, an American sustainable development researcher and photographer, has spent the past four years attempting to document, and hopefully preserve, as many Southeast Asian standalone cinemas as possible before they’re lost to time.

 He found 15 movie houses in Laos.

Will the Lao communities in Laos and abroad be able to appreciate these parts of their heritage and work to preserve them, or will time move on and these spaces will be turned into strip malls, putt-putt golf courses, beer gardens or an overpriced high-rise?

You can read the full article over at: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rediscovering-southeast-asias-lost-movie-706735

It has me wondering what a Lao version of Cinema Paradiso might look like. As director Mattie Do continues to make waves fighting to make a space for Lao horror cinema, and the Luang Prabang Film Festival does its best imitation of The Little Engine That Could, is it possible this whole story could take a different and interestingly unpredictable direction?

I think we can remain optimistic.

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