The Rocket, a movie set in modern day Laos is directed by Kim Mordaunt. Mordaunt also made the 2007 documentary , which is about the unexploded cluster bombs still left in Laos.
The movie has only been shown at select film festivals around the world. And winning a few awards too. It recently won Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film’s young leading actor, Sitthiphon Disamoe, received Best Actor honors for his role as Ahlo.
The producer of The Rocket, Sylvia Wilczynski adds that “The film deals with topical themes such as a family who are displaced from their home by a hydro-electric dam development, and impoverished kids who collect those bombs.”
The Sydney Film School gives a good summary of the story:
“The Rocket is about a boy who is believed to bring bad luck to everyone around him, who leads his dysfunctional family and a couple of ragged misfits through Laos to find a new home. After a calamity-filled journey through a land scarred by the legacy of war, to prove he’s not cursed he builds a giant rocket to enter the most lucrative but dangerous competition of the year: the Rocket Festival.”
The film was shot in Laos and Thailand and features local village people as extras. Thai casting director Tanawat Punya auditioned children in schools, markets, temples, drama and youth groups and on the streets to play Ahlo. They casted 10 year-old Sitthiphon (“Ki”) Disamoe who lived rough on the streets until he was adopted. They then cast 8 year-old Loungnam Kaosainam, who plays his friend Kia. Loungnam was born and grew up in Vientiane and is involved in a local drama group. Ahlo’s mom is played by Australian Lao actress Alice Keohavong.
I look forward to watching this movie when it gets released in the U.S.
