Listen to the voices and stories from the Mekong region - Come to Mekong Cinema@TaiwanTech campus to learn about Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam through the stories of local film makers!
The Mekong River, the mother of the land and life in South East Asia, has been facing threats from water resource disputes, pollution, and overdevelopment. How can artists and cultural practitioners respond to these urgent sustainable issues through creativity and cross-national action?
The "Mekong 2030" project was initiated by the 2020 Luang Prabang Film Festival in Laos amidst the backdrop of overdevelopment and environmental changes. Set in the year 2030, the films envision the future of the Mekong River, aiming  to both entertain and inspire audiences to actively protect this critical life source. This cross-national collaboration features  five short narrative films from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam telling stories of coexistence and collapse between humanity and nature.

Cooperation Partner

Mekong Cultural Hub (MCH) is a sister organisation of Cambodian Living Arts, which has been working in Cambodia since 1998, and Living Arts International which initiates policy-driven, collaborative and transnational cultural actions, inspired by the resilience of arts communities in post-conflict contexts. The three organizations share the belief that arts are at the heart of a vital society, and this spirit is reflected throughout our programs. MCH addresses a systemic lack of connectivity among artists and cultural practitioners in Southeast Asia and the Mekong Region. [Read more...]

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Mekong 2030  - Film Screenings@Taiwan Tech

The five short films of the Mekong 2030 project will be shown on Taiwan Tech campus from Monday to Friday, May 5 - May 9, 2025, 10:00 - 17:00  in a wooden mobile cinema cabin placed at T4 square. All films are shown in their original language with English subtitles

Soul River 
Director: Kulikar Sotho/Cambodia
Soul River is a cautionary tale framed as a lighthearted road (or, rather, river) movie. Set in 2030 in a remote northeast region of Cambodia, it urges contemporary audiences to reconsider their attitudes toward environmental degradation and the impact of climate change on the Mekong basin.

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The Che Brother
Director: Anysay Keola/Laos
Xe returns to the nearly deserted Mekong fishing village in which he was raised. There, he intervenes in a dispute between his siblings over the ethics of exploiting their elderly mother’s blood. The blood has become a valuable commodity to a Western corporation that has been developing a cure for a deadly plague outbreak.

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The Forgotten Voices of the Mekong
Director: Sai Naw Kham/Myanmar
This film tells a story of two women fighting to claim their lost spirits’ attachment to the Mekong River, while channeling community resilience toward its protection.

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The Line
Director: Anocha Suwichakornpong/Thailand
As an artist prepares to open a new exhibition focusing on animism and river ecology, the boundaries between the artwork and the world it represents begin to merge into a site where different forms of knowledge converge.

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The Unseen River    
Director: Pham Ngoc Lan/Vietnam    
This film tells a story about a middle-aged woman traveling upstream to find a lover she hasn’t seen in 30 years, told alongside a story of a young couple traveling downstream to a strange temple in search of a cure for chronic insomnia.

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Don't miss: Special Screening of The Che Brother, followed by a panel discussion with  experts on Friday, 9 May, 12:00 - 13:40 at Taiwan Tech! 

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Workshops and Seminars
A workshop and a seminar will be offered alongside the film screenings to foster a deeper understanding of the living conditions in the Mekong river area and the challenges of effecting social change through media and artists.

Workshop (morning) : Dancing with Nature: Reinventing Life in Thailand's Rural Landscapes

Who says you need money to live a life of beauty and abundance? Are resourceful villagers living an ideal  life dancing in harmony with nature? 
Let’s walk into a rural community of Thailand so see how villagers in the Dansai district of Loei Province live with their local wisdom. How have they creatively adapted their daily lives to achieve holistic well-being despite resource constraints by embracing nature. 
In this interactive 20-minute workshop, participants will create their own personal cosmological models. The activity aims to foster a deeper understanding of self, others, and nature so re-establish a meaningful connection with the natural and the society. 

Instructor: Wayla Amatathammachad / Director of Prayoon for Art Foundation 
Date/ Time: May 9th  2025, Fri, 10: 00 - 11：00  
Venue: Room IA-502, 5th floor, Yi Yang Building 
Registration:  link 

Seminar (afternoon) : Confluences: Art, Science, and Storytelling along the Mekong River

Can a good story spark social change and facilitate environmental sustainability?
This participatory discussion will consider the challenges of effecting social change through media, from the perspectives of artists, audiences, and stakeholders. With a specific focus on the Mekong watershed, participants will consider how impactful and engaging stories about the river can reach key audiences.
Clips from Laotian films will be screened during the workshop to spark the conversation at the intersection of art, science and storytelling.

Instructor: Sean Chadwell / Director of Blue Chair Film Festival
Date/ Time: May 9th, 2025, Fri, 14: 20 - 15: 20 
Venue: Room IA-502, 5th floor, Yi Yang Building 
Registration:  link

Film screening & Panel: Artistic Narratives of the Mekong and the Environmental Change[In English only]

Environmental change and its impact on human survival: Is it nature’s backlash, or the consequences of human actions over generations?

Artistic Narratives of the Mekong and the Environmental Change
This panel explores how artists, rooted in their local environments and social contexts, confront and interpret the impacts of environmental change and how their narratives can inspire transformation.

Moderator：Prof. Shefong CHUNG / College of Communication, National Chengchi University, Taiwan
Panelists:
Sean Chadwell / Director of Blue Chair Film Festival 
Wayla Amatathammachad / Director of Prayoon for Art Foundation 
Stefanie Eschenlohr / Specialist - Associate Professor Level, Center for General Education, NTUST

Film: The Che Brother
Director: Anysay Keola (Laos)
Length: 20 mins

Is it a prophecy of the future, a reflection on the past, or a warning for the present? A story of a near future which is tangled of pandemic, science, medicine, money, redemption, and the human nature…

Date/ Time: May 9th, 2025, Fri, 12: 00 - 13: 40 
Venue: Room IB-202, 2nd floor

Registration:  link

Registration Guidelines

• There is no registration fee for this series of events. All participant fees are fully subsidized by the "Bilingual Education for Students in College" project funding.

• A waiting list will be available. If confirmed participants are unable to attend, individuals on the waiting list will be notified. We appreciate your patience.

• Photos and videos will be taken during the panel discussions, lectures, and workshops. If you do not wish to appear in the footage, please inform the organizers in advance.

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Contact
Center for General Education – Ms. Wu
Tel: (02) 2730-1182
Email: yachin0930@mail.ntust.edu.tw

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Supervising Institution: Ministry of Education
Hosted by Center for General Education, NTUST
Co-sponsors: Office for Billigual Education Initiatives,  Ministry of EducationHigher Education Sprout Project 
Presented by Mekong Cultural Hub (MCH)

Special Thanks to:
Blue Chair Film Festival
Prayoon for Art Foundation
Trees Music & Art