Banana Pancakes and the Children of Sticky Rice

Dir. Daan Veldhuizen, Viewpoint Productions, 94 min, 2015, The Netherlands/Laos

The picturesque village in northern Laos attracts more and more visitors. While the backpackers marvel at the authenticity and simplicity of the surroundings, the villagers discover the allure of Western culture and its attractions. Their slow daily rhythm is gradually replaced by hubbub, and the bustling natives begin to offer the visitors banana pancakes instead of the traditional sticky rice. This flowing and aesthetically captivating film is a poetic story of the interaction of two very different cultures in the era of globalization.

During the Vietnam War the USA dropped more than 270 million bombs on Laos – making it the most heavily bombed country per capita in all of history. Laos only began to develop a tourism industry in the early 1990s, as up until that point Laotians were engaged in coffee production. The country currently has 6.8 million inhabitants, but receives more than 4 million tourists annually, mainly Thais, Americans, the British and French.