From the Ground Up.(Society and the Arts; Film)

Byline: Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop

Laos produces its first feature film in 33 years.

Unlike its neighbors Thailand and Vietnam, Laos has never had much of a movie industry. After it gained independence from France in 1949, the country's royalist and communist factions each churned out propaganda documentaries to support their respective causes. But beyond that, a lack of resources and equipment thwarted efforts to develop an independent moviemaking scene. When the communists took control in 1975, propaganda films became an integral part of nation-building. With the exception of a trickle of patriotic stories funded by the government--such as "The Sound of Gunfire From the Plain of Jars" (1983)--the production of movies for entertainment never really took off.

Now it's poised to. A privately funded Lao movie, the first in 33 years, is scheduled to hit the big screen in Thailand and Laos in April. Codirected by Laotian moviemaker Anousone Sirisackda and Thailand's Sakchai Deenan, "Good Morning Luang Prabang" is a romantic road movie about a young journalist who grows up in Australia and falls in love with a beautiful Lao girl during a visit to his father's hometown, Luang Prabang. The lead roles are played by Laotian beauty Khamlek Pallawong and Ananda Everingham, a 25-year-old Laotian-Australian actor who will appear this year in at least five movies, including the just-released Singaporean romance "The Leap Years," with Joan Chen. Everingham, who is also one of the new film's producers, hopes to market it to international festivals. "The project is very art-house and was shot on a very tight budget over 13 days," he says. "But I feel very patriotic about it because it's the first independent movie in so long. It's really a landmark for Laos."

The film even has the government's blessing. After years of neglecting the film scene, officials are suddenly showing interest in the industry, to bring ...