About the Film
In Laos, there is a phenomenon where balls of light rise from the Mekong River every year around the Buddhist lent. Some people think it’s chemicals in the river making this happen. Some think it’s man made to attract tourists. Some believe it’s the Naga rising from the river to greet people for the Buddhist lent. In this animation, I take a statistic about how children make up 40% of bomb victims affected by 80 million cluster bombs left behind from the Vietnam and Secret Wars and turn it into a story where their souls are assisted by the Naga, the protector of all Lao people.
The Director or Producer
Kim Sandara
Kim Sandara (they/she) is a bi genderqueer, Lao/Vietnamese American, artist from Northern Virginia and now based in Brooklyn, NY. In 2016, they graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art, with a BFA in General Fine Arts. In 2019 and 2021 they've been featured in the Washington Post for their music paintings and 270 Million Project, bringing spotlight on the bombs left in Laos from the Secret War. In their Torpedo Factory summer 2019 Post-Grad Residency, they created a stop motion animation about their parent's immigration story intersecting their coming out story. They used the studio space as a shop to fund raise for local and national LGBTQ+ non profits empowering queer youth. In their 2020 Bresler Residency at VisArts, they focused more on Lao identity work. Since moving to Brooklyn in 2020, they've shown work an various spaces in Manhattan including with Arts on the Ave, Tiny Art Gallery and Pearl River Mart in Chelsea Market. When they're not at their day job or art shows they also sell at art markets usually in queer spaces like Ginger's or Three Dollar Bill. They're currently working on her graphic novel "Origins of Kin and Kang" about their coming out story and collaborating with Legacies of War to help fund removing the bombs left over from the Secret War.
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