Mekong 2030 & Short
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Standard: HKD 85
Concessions: HKD 68
Mekong 2030 & Short
Veined by rivers, Southeast Asia is connected by five major river systems. These rivers—Irrawaddy, Salween, Chao Phraya, Mekong, and the Red Hong River—run across the region’s landscape, nourishing life in its vast fields and jungles, but also bringing in disastrous surges and deluges. Their transboundary flux blends together centuries of power struggles—between people and nations, or with nature; from the religious and the mythical, to the political and environmental.
Mekong 2030 is a collection of short narrative films by directors from five national and cultures that unfolds transboundary entanglements along the same river. Aside from the main channels, rivers are often the feature of tropical jungles; the misty surroundings became the backdrop for and sources of myths and tales of the region.
Zhang Xu Zhan's stop-motion animation, Compound Eyes of Tropical, builds on a Southeast Asian folk tale about a mouse trying to cross a river by relying on his wit. Zhang brings in elements from traditional Chinese paper art and folk parades, which are mainly used in funerals in many Asian cultures. The title references the fractured perspective of the compound eye of a fly. The film won the award for Best Animated Short at the Golden Horse Awards in 2022.
The two films offer multiple perspectives the points at which geography, traditions, rituals, folktales, and futures converge and diverge within this region.
The screening on 24 September will be followed by a post-screening talk with Zhang Xu Zhan in Mandarin. The talk will be moderated by M+ Associate Curator of Hong Kong Visual Culture Vennes Cheng.
Zhang Xu Zhan. Compound Eyes of Tropical, 2022. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Zhang Xu Zhan. Compound Eyes of Tropical, 2022. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Kulikar Sotho, Anysay Keola, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Sai Naw Kham, Pham Ngoc Lan. Mekong 2030, 2020. Photo: Courtesy of Luang Prabang Film Festival.
Kulikar Sotho, Anysay Keola, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Sai Naw Kham, Pham Ngoc Lan. Mekong 2030, 2020. Photo: Courtesy of Luang Prabang Film Festival.
Zhang Xu Zhan. Compound Eyes of Tropical, 2022. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Zhang Xu Zhan. Compound Eyes of Tropical, 2022. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Kulikar Sotho, Anysay Keola, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Sai Naw Kham, Pham Ngoc Lan. Mekong 2030, 2020. Photo: Courtesy of Luang Prabang Film Festival.
Kulikar Sotho, Anysay Keola, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Sai Naw Kham, Pham Ngoc Lan. Mekong 2030, 2020. Photo: Courtesy of Luang Prabang Film Festival.
About the Directors
Image at top: Kulikar Sotho, Anysay Keola, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Sai Naw Kham, Pham Ngoc Lan. Mekong 2030, 2020. Photo: Courtesy of Luang Prabang Film Festival.