‘Autobiography,’ ‘Cu Li Never Cries’ Head for Blue Chair Film Festival in Luang Prabang

variety.com:

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Recent Asian feature films including Makbul Mubarak’s “Autobiography,” Lan Pham Ngoc’s “Cu Li Never Cries,” Nelson Yeo’s “Dreaming & Dying,” Jeremias Nyangoen’s “The Women of Rote Island” and Lyda Leak’s “The Night Curse of Reatrei” adorn the non-competitive lineup of the 2024 edition of the Blue Chair film festival in Luang Prabang, Laos.

Previously known as the Luang Prabang Film Festival, the festival counts 24 features and 40 shorts in its 2024 festival. It will run Dec.

5-9 in the UNESCO World Heritage town. The event also boasts the world premiere of Feisal Azizuddin’s “Angkat” (Malaysia) — a project developed in part at the Luang Prabang Talent Lab in 2019 — and the Lao premiere of Joshua Trigg’s “Satu – Year of the Rabbit” (Laos). “With five nights and four full days of programming, the festival is returning to “something like its program scale before the pandemic,” said Sean Chadwell, Blue Chair’s executive director. “The physical scale will be more compact this year, with just 400 meters between the two night venues — and the day venue between them on the main street in central Luang Prabang.” Blue Chair will continue its policy of keeping all screenings free and open to the public and providing regional filmmakers with the opportunity to network, meet audiences.

Throughout the year, Blue Chair organizes a range of cultural events and educational activities, from film screenings to workshops for Lao filmmakers, and manages the Lao Filmmakers Fund, providing grants directly to Lao artists. “Angkat” (2024) Malaysia, Dir.