Laos, the Village above the Clouds

This is a film from the German DW documentaries from 2019 looking at a remote Akha tribal village in Laos, and its quandary being in-between tradition and modernity.

The film looks at one of the elders of the remote village and his large extended family, who are living according to very rigorous traditions in isolated conditions: no roads, no electricity, no media, it appears.

On the other hand his youngest son, whom they are relying on for the future of the family, has been getting an education in the nearest town, and after separation from the family no longer intends to live there.

Not that he has given up on the family, indeed he hopes he can support them like a good son should, but for him, exposure to town life has already broken his adherence to tradition.

The film looks at the hard life of the villagers, examines their traditions and beliefs, and the conflicts that arise when modernity starts encroaching on their traditional life: some – including the village chief – want to move the village closer to utilities like roads, and others want it to remain isolated.

Note: the documentary includes film of animal sacrifice, and reports on a particularly distressing tradition of the infanticide of twins, the birth of which is regarded as inauspicious.