Hunted like animals
21/09/2008 - 15:00
21 September 2008
15.00 hrs
Filmscreening in Kriterion, Amsterdam
The tragedy of the Hmong in Laos and Thailand, an indigenous people forgotten by the world. For decades now they have been hunted by armies on both sides of the border.
The Hmong Lao have been hiding for more than thirty years in the remote mountains of Laos - chased, attacked and massacred by Laotian and Vietnamese military forces. Thousands have fled to Thailand. This is an eye-opening documentary about an ongoing but unknown genocide on indigenous peoples in the jungles of South East Asia. When the United States pulled out in 1975 and the Lao kingdom was overthrown by communists, the Hmong became targets of retaliation and persecution. Two generations later, the Hmong in hiding are still hunted, attacked, raped and killed by the military. Since 2004, the crackdown has intensified and those who can escape seek refuge in Thailand. The traumatized are threatened with deportation back to Laos, the very place from which they escaped. The documentary - which includes some gruesome scenes - shows how a people that is forgotten by the world has to survive by all means - legal and illegal.
United States 2007, 77 min. Documentary, video, colour. Language: English, Lao, Thai, Hmong. Subtitles: English.
Venue: Kriterion - http://www.kriterion.nl