by Lia Sciortino
Two Villages
Documentaries | Culture | Tourism | China
A village on the banks of Lancang, China and a village in Mekong Island, Cambodia are the rich settings of this documentary.
In the Chinese village of Manchunman, the Dai people have become experts at courting tourists to buy their local crafts. A tourist company has put up a gate at the entrance of the village, turning it into a park where locals perform traditional rituals in daily shows.
A thousand miles away, in Mekong Island, people like Seth struggle to hold on to ancient customs and traditions. Faced with a constant decrease in rice harvest year after year, they take pains in holding a ceremony for the gods. However, they recognize that the source of the problem is the changing river, a river that has stopped flooding their lands with the promise of fertility. Some farmers are now turning to raising oxen, while Seth weaves cloth, which tourists like.
Will the two villages eventually end up with the same fate? By presenting slices of life, this documentary makes its viewers reflect on what the tides of change can bring.
Director Tan Leshui hopes that while their documentary simply records the changes that are happening, it will make people realize that the preservation of culture should go beyond the surface.