The Guardian of Stories

Sep 15

Synopsis

The film is a heartwarming culmination of Siphai Thammavong’s puppetry and his journey meeting storytellers to record their folktales before they disappear from Laos. He desires to pass on the tradition to his children, and hopefully inspire the viewers - to hold onto these folktales in a fast-growing digital age.

From the filmmaker

In an unexpected encounter in Laos, we met Siphai Thammavong in Laos, a young storyteller with a powerful sense of purpose: to preserve the country's oral storytelling tradition before it disappears. This film is our tribute to those, who dedicate their lives to keeping stories alive and to the communities whose identities are woven through these narratives. By documenting these final guardians of oral tradition, we hope to preserve the stories, the voices, gestures, and emotions that give them life.