Open Air Cinema at the Luang Prabang Film Festival

From the Open Air Cinema archive. Originally published in 2010, recapping the inaugural Luang Prabang Film Festival. Preserved as a historical record.

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Open Air Cinema was proud to be a part of the inaugural Luang Prabang Film Festival from December 4-11 2010. We just received a press release from the festival's director, Gabriel Kuperman, as he reflects on the successes of the first festival and the implications that the event has had in spreading the culture of Southeast Asia.

Kuperman said that "the inaugural Luang Prabang Film Festival was an incredible success. I could not be more happier with the great number of guests who came to experience Southeast Asian cinema with us. In addition to the tourists who benefited from stumbling upon our festival, we had visitors from many of our participating countries who came specifically to see our celebration and take part in this important event. Huge numbers of Lao people, both young and old, came to see our films."

Kuperman said he was "very excited to have U.S. - based Open Air Cinema on board as the technical coordinator of the screenings, with Lao Star and Sony lending us their projection equipment and staff for the week". He noted the significance of having a giant Open Air Cinema inflatable movie screen as a part of the festival by saying that "this event made a significant impact upon those in attendance, many of whom had never seen films from Southeast Asia, or who had never seen films on a big screen before." Open Air Cinema is grateful to have provided new opportunities of cinema with it's portable movie screens.

The Open Air Cinema Foundation's involvement in the festival furthers our mission of creating an environment that encourages social interaction using memorable films and natural settings. We look forward to continuing to partner with meaningful non profit organizations around the globe, and to promoting quality cinema everywhere.