Voices from the Mekong - Film Screenings and Seminars
From May 5 to 9, 2025, the Taiwan Tech campus transformed into an open-air cinema. In collaboration with the Mekong Cultural Hub (MCH), the Center for General Education presented Voices from the Mekong, a special film event inviting students and faculty to discover stories from Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam through the lens of local filmmakers. The program aimed to deepen understanding of international issues and Southeast Asian cultures.
At the heart of the screenings was the Mekong 2030 project—first launched at the Luang Prabang Film Festival in 2020—which imagines the river’s future in the face of escalating environmental crises such as pollution, overdevelopment, and water conflicts. Five short films portrayed both the vulnerability and resilience of communities living along the Mekong.
The event also included workshops, led by Sean Chadwell, Director of Blue Chair Film Festival, and Wayla Amatathammachad, Director of Prayoon for Art Foundation and a post-screening panel discussion focusing how artists and cultural practitioners are using creativity and cross-border collaboration to address urgent sustainability challenges.
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:
The Mekong Cultural Hub: Building an Arts Network for Taiwan and Southeast Asia
From left to right:Jennifer LIU, Mekong Cultural Hub, Wayla Amatathammachad, Director of Prayoon Art Foundation, J.C. LIU, Taiwan Tech Vice-President, Syying Lee, Director of the CGE
Mekong 2030 - Film Screenings@Taiwan Tech
 |
 |
The five short films of the Mekong 2030 project were screened in the 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
[9 May 2025] 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 : Dancing with Nature: Reinventing Life in Thailand's Rural Landscapes
The interactive workshop, led Wayla Amatathammachad, invited participants to explore how villagers in Dansai District, Loei Province, Thailand, draw on local wisdom to live in harmony with nature and create fulfilling lives despite limited resources. Through storytelling and reflection, the session highlighted how these communities creatively adapt daily practices to achieve holistic well-being. In a hands-on activity, participants designed their own personal cosmological models, encouraging them to reflect on their relationship with self, others, and the natural world.
Instructor: Wayla Amatathammachad / Director of Prayoon for Art Foundation
Seminar: Confluences: Art, Science, and Storytelling along the Mekong River
This participatory workshop explored how powerful storytelling can drive social change and support environmental sustainability, with a focus on the Mekong River region. Participants examined the challenges of creating media that effectively engages audiences and influences stakeholders. The session included screenings of selected clips from Laotian films to inspire discussion at the intersection of art, science, and storytelling. Through dialogue and reflection, attendees considered how compelling narratives can help raise awareness and encourage action to protect the Mekong watershed.
Instructor: Sean Chadwell / Director of Blue Chair Film Festival
Film screening & Panel: Artistic Narratives of the Mekong and the Environmental Change
Film: The Che Brother
Director: Anysay Keola (Laos)
Length: 20 mins
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
This panel discussion examined how arts and culture—especially film—can support communities in the Mekong region to raise awareness of environmental and social issues. Speakers discussed strategies to empower young filmmakers and how festival organizers navigate censorship while amplifying local perspectives. Sean Chadwell highlighted the significance of film festivals for places like Luang Prabang, where cinema offers a platform for cultural exchange far from major urban centers. Wayla Amatathammachad reflected on the ways tourism threatens the Mekong River’s ecosystem and traditional ways of life, and considered how “deep tourism” could help preserve and celebrate unique local cultures.
Supervising Institution: Ministry of Education
Host: Center for General Education, NTUST
Co-sponsors: Office for Billigual Education Initiatives, Ministry of EducationHigher Education Sprout Project
Partner: Mekong Cultural Hub (MCH)
Special Thanks to:
Blue Chair Film Festival
Prayoon for Art Foundation
Trees Music & Art
