Featured Films of Cultural Exploration

Dancing With Opas is a captivating documentary that follows renowned Thai dancer and choreographer Opas Yarcammee as he trains and inspires a new generation of performers in Chiang Mai. With a contagious passion for the art of dance and a deep reverence for Thai culture, Opas blends tradition and innovation to create something truly his own. The film begins in Opas' studio, where he teaches Thai classical dance to a lively group of teens. We witness the transformation from playful students to focused performers under his encouraging yet disciplined guidance. His charisma, warmth, and humor foster an environment where creativity thrives and cultural legacy is honored. As rehearsals evolve, Opas begins to weave Western elements—like Latin and ballroom steps—into the fabric of traditional Thai choreography, crafting performances that are both deeply rooted and refreshingly modern. We follow him and his troupe as they take the stage at a variety of venues, from school events to major festivals, culminating in a spectacular performance during Chiang Mai’s 720th anniversary celebration as a city.

Set against the shimmering waters of Thailand beneath a full-moon sky, Loy Krathong is a visual and cultural journey into one of the country’s most enchanting festivals. Celebrated annually in the twelfth lunar month, this deeply symbolic event invites participants to release handmade offerings—krathongs crafted from banana leaves and lit with candles—into rivers and canals, creating a breathtaking spectacle of floating light. These ritual offerings draw participants into the spiritual layers of the tradition: honoring Phra Mae Khongkha, the Goddess of Water, in gratitude for her life-sustaining gifts of rivers, lakes, and oceans; paying homage to the Buddha in the hope that the offerings reach sacred realms; and embracing themes of forgiveness, renewal, and letting go in the year to come. Featuring scenes of a vibrant parade, such as this one in Chiang Mai, with its traditional music, spiritual imagery, and warm community celebration, Loy Krathong offers a poetic reflection on the bond between humanity, nature, and the divine. More than a festival, it is a moment of collective release—where candlelit prayers drift across the water, carrying wishes into the night.

This documentary celebrating dance, identity, and the spirit of Northern Thailand follows Waewdao Sirisook and her dynamic dance-theatre troupe as they bring the vibrant traditions and innovations of Lanna culture to life — from five-star hotel stages to temple grounds, university parking lots, and remote village clearings along the Mekong River. Lanna Style and Grace is a visually stunning journey through movement, music, and meaning. Whether performing a dazzling Lanna reinterpretation of The Phantom of the Opera for international tourists on New Year’s Eve, collaborating with a French contemporary dance troupe to challenge Thai audiences at Chiang Mai University, or offering traditional dances in a Lao village as sacred tributes to their shared traditions, Waewdao’s troupe adapts with grace, purpose, and cultural pride. More than just performance, this documentary reveals how dance can become a voice for change. Through their expressive choreography, the troupe raises powerful questions about serious issues like environmental protection in Doi Suthep, or the struggles of displaced immigrants. Shot against the lush and varied backdrops of Northern Thailand, the film is a celebration of handmade Lanna textiles, rich traditions, and the joy of creative collaboration. With every rehearsal and performance, Waewdao exudes calm and joy — inspiring her dancers to move with passion and authenticity. Lanna Style and Grace is a tribute to the power of art as both cultural preservation and social commentary. It’s a must-watch for anyone interested in dance, identity, and the unifying spirit of performance.

“7 Years Later” – Lanna Collaborative Performance (Song, Dance & Painting) Date of Performance: 23–25 March 2018 at Subsan Lanna Theater, Lanna Wisdom School, Chiangmai Thailand In 2010, Ronnarong Khampha (dancer), Maneerat Rattanang (singer), and Neti Phikroh (painter) created a collaborative performance entitled “Before 30.” Seven years later, after each artist continued to grow through their individual artistic journeys, this new work emerged as a further development of that collaboration, now titled “7 Years Later.” This is a unique combination of talents that work so well together demonstrating what contemporary Lanna performances can look like now and into the future. This is a powerful and wonderfully executed multimedia show. They continue to perform together in the present.

This show, chosen for the New Year’s Eve event at the Anantara Hotel , was created by Sirisook Dance Theater for international family audiences. It contains a series of song and dance hits from the Disney family repertoire now played back in Lanna style with spectacular costumes and bold dance moves. Songs we recognize and we have heard many times before receive a new life with the excitement of the Lanna style dancers as they take flight across the stage. We are thrilled to see how these Disney classics are loved by these Thai artists as they throw themselves into the material as if it was their own. This generates a beautiful feeling of friendship between artists and audience as Thais offer their respect for western culture by selecting songs from well- known productions like “Frozen”and “Beauty and the Beast”. And they end their show with a salute to the beauty of their own culture with a martial arts drum and dance presentation celebrating the strength of women in an empowering and entertaining Lanna style!

While there isn't a specific "new rice ceremony" on January 1st in Chiang Mai, a common tradition during the Lanna New Year is the "Tan Khao Mai" ceremony, which involves offering rice and other food to the Buddha, along with a bonfire, and it often takes place in January in the cold season in Chiang Mai. The bonfire symbolically keeps the Buddha warm in the temple as the fire burns outside. While the bonfire burns, people dance around it and thank the Buddha for a good rice harvest and pray and make merit with positive actions in hopes for the harvest to be good again in future. This is part of the broader celebrations that include merit-making for actions like giving rice to the monks, visiting temples, and paying respects to elders.

Ajarn Vithi is the founder of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Chiang Mai University. He is known in Chiang Mai art circles as a cultural explorer of his own country but also many other countries in the world. He encourages his students to be open to other cultures and to learn new things from them that can influence and shape their own cultures at home. In this film he takes students, graduates and staff from Chiang Mai University and some friends from other countries to his hidden gem villages along the Mekong in Laos. He talks about the many changes on the Mekong and how they impact the people who have lived beside the Mekong for 4000 years! There is much joy and laughter shared by the travellers and the people as they celebrate life in these villages in the shadows of change.

Every year, Ajarn Vithi invites his current and former students and some friends to his home for a ritual celebration before the Songkran festival for the Thai New Year. In this short film, we see and experience a “spiritual warm up” for the afternoon parade, beginning with a “spring cleaning “of the buddha statues provided by Ajarn Vithi collected from many places he has visited across Asia. The same cleaning of statues happens at many Buddhist temples at the same time as they prepare for the parade in the afternoon. The assembled guests join in chanting and prayers to the Buddha hoping for a prosperous year to come with good health and then they go off to join the crowds on the sidewalks rejoicing in the Thai New Year parade in what some call “The Big Splash.”

The beautiful thing about the Songkran Festival is that it combines the ritual of splashing the Buddha with the splashing of everyone else walking in the parade. It “makes merit” for everyone while they are engaged in a huge water fight for fun and for the Buddha. The term “making merit” refers to the act of performing good deeds or actions that are believed to bring spiritual benefits, such as participating in religious ceremonies or performing acts of kindness.