Mr Larsoutchai Soutthihakpanya (second from left) with his sister and friends after winning a short film competition.

Young filmmaker dreams of developing Lao move industry
 
After successfully participating in many contests in the country, young filmmaker Larsoutchai Soutthihakpanya now has dreams of promoting and developing the Lao movie industry.
Mr Larsoutchai, 20, believes the Lao film industry should “grow up” and take its films outside the county widely. In an interview with LaoX’ media, he also spoke about the process of making films and participating in film competitions. He said he had been interested in films since he was in secondary school year 6. At that time, his sister persuaded him to start making films and to join a film competition that offered a scholarship from Jenesys.
“This film contest was not the starting point that made me interested about films and filmmaking. My sister, who worked in films, gave me my passion for making films, as well as good advice about films,” he said. Mr Larsoutchai tried to find new ways of making films, and spent a lot of time learning about the field. He also participated in film competitions for his personal development.
He got a “congratulation prize” at the first Lanxang short film competition and won the Lanxang X Plan Short Film Competition.
He is now a year 3 student of the Faculty of Mass Media at the National University of Laos. He is learning film editing and design, as well as the English language to improve his communication skills. Mr Larsoutchai said he loves working on films because it is challenging work that has helped his personal development in every way. “Each film I made also taught me a lot,” he said.
He is currently seeking an opportunity and channel to learn more about filmmaking in order to develop his skills. He is also looking for funds to make a film and plans to train outside the country in future.

By Sisouphan Amphonephong
(Latest Update May 26, 2022)