Laos in the House!

I have two exciting anoucnements. Well actually I have one exciting announcement and the other thing is just something I wanted to share. First is that I would like to congratulate Mr. Byran Thao Worra on receiving the 2009 NEA Fellowship in Poetry, he is the very first Lao American Poet to be awarded such an honor. As you may or may not remember from my past blogs, Bryan is the author of On The Other Side of The Eye and we've fought over who came up with the phrase Laos in the House (we're still disputing that). In honor of his award, he recently changed his Facebook profile picture to this one:


The second thing I wanted to make known was that I recently saw a film documenting the lives of a Laotian American family called "The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)". Aside from the obvious factor I really really enjoyed this film, because it helped answer alot of questions I had about my own growing up that my parents didn't want to speak of. For many people who are unfamiliar with Lao culture and the C.I.A's Secret War that took place in Laos, this film will also help you understand a part of history that is not often talked about. It is also such a great film for people who want to understand refugee culture as well as what assimilation looks like when its coupled with displacement. In addition it was shot by one of Hollywood's well-known cinematographers Ellen Kuras and co-directed by Thavi Pravasith, the film's main subject, and who also was featured in the last Lao Roots magazine with me. Below is a trailer:


To find out more about the film and where else it may be playing go to http://nerakhoon.com/