Filmography - Area Studies: South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania

This is a selective list of video holdings in the American University Library. Filmographies are created by doing multiple keyword searches in the catalog to capture as many titles on a topic as possible. 

For complete, up-to-date holdings please search the library catalog search box on the Media Services homepage. (http://www.american.edu/library/mediaservices/) Finding Aids on the same page includes other subject oriented content.

For more information take a look at the Streaming Video Guides and Browsing Collections.

Note: "Vietnam War" and "War on Terror" (in Afghanistan) are addressed in specific filmographies on those topics. Feature films are also excluded from this list with the exception of a few that depict important historical events that aren’t well covered by documentaries (e.g. The Killing Fields).

Bangkok girl. 2005. 1 videodisc (43 min.). Jordan Clark's tragic documentary provides a glimpse into Thailand's notorious and booming sex tourism industry through the experiences of a 19-year-old bar girl named Pla. This tragic documentary provides a glimpse into Thailand's notorious and booming sex tourism industry through the experiences of a 19-year-old bar girl named Pla. Working in the bars from the age of thirteen, Pla has managed to avoid selling her body--a remarkable revelation given her surroundings--but her refusal to take part in this all-too-common profession for young Thai women cannot last. The introduction of falangs, or foreigners, to Thailand has forever changed the city, the economy, the Thai people's lives and desires. A daring and unabashed look at a popular Western predilection through the eyes of one girl, this film challenges the accepted worldwide practice of sex tourism. DVD 3644

Candles for New Years. Ethnographic video online. 1998. 1 streaming video (30 min.). The Lao people of Thailand celebrate the New Year with dancing, feasting and candle light ceremonies that renew their ties with the spirits. Streaming video

Chang: a drama of the wilderness. The Milestone collection. 2000. 1 videodisc (69 min.). "Shot entirely in Siam, the film tells the story of a farmer and his family who have settled a small patch of land on the edge of the jungle. Their existence is a constant struggle against the many wild animals around, "--Container. DVD 679

The cost of living. Life: Life (Bullfrog Films). 2000. 1 videodisc (24 min.). Part 14 of a series on how the globalized world economy affects ordinary people. This program examines why AIDS drugs are unaffordable in developing countries, using as examples Thailand and South Africa, two countries who have applied to use compulsory licenses and parallel importing -- practices agreed under World Trade Organization guidelines -- to make their own generic versions of anti-retroviral drugs to halt the AIDS epidemic in their countries. It also asks why anti-retroviral drugs still aren't included in the WTO's essential drugs lists. DVD 5962

Daughters and sons: preventing child trafficking in the Golden Triangle. 2008. 1 videodisc (25 min.). A documentary about the efforts of Sompop Jantraka, founder of the Development & Education Program for Daughters and Communities (DEPDC), to combat the trafficking of children in the sex slave trade in Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), and Laos by convincing their families that education is a better alternative. DVD 4120

Don't fence me in. Ethnographic video online. 2004. 1 streaming video (29 min., 55 sec.). Chronicles the life of 70 year-old Karen freedom fighter Major Mary On and her people's struggle for self-determination against the military junta that dominates Burma, or Myanmar; includes rare, clandestine footage smuggled out of refugee camps along the border between Burma and Thailand. Streaming video

Journey into Buddhism. 2007. 1 videodisc (81 min.). Journey through legendary rivers to the greatest Buddhist temples and mystical sites of Laos, Thailand, and Burma. Explore the different cultural representations of this universal icon of inner peace. DVD 3492

Sisters and daughters betrayed the trafficking of women and girls and the fight to end it. 1995. 1 videodisc (28 min.). Sex trafficking is a global crisis of growing dimensions. Millions of women and young girls have been illegally transported from rural to urban areas and across national borders for the purpose of prostitution. This documentary explores the social and economic forces that drive this lucrative underground trade, and the devastating impact it has on women's lives. DVD 6001

Taboo: Sacred Pains. 2004. 1 streaming video (41 min.). Among the many religions of the world one can still clearly observe the shamanic imperative to enter the realm of the sacred-and some practitioners will do whatever it takes to reach that elevated state. This program looks at rites and rituals designed to achieve spiritual awakening through physical pain and bodily injury. A village in Nepal welcomes the New Year with a tongue-boring ceremony. In Bali, the faithful turn knives against their own bodies. And in Thailand, some religious devotees climb ladders with razor-sharp steps to please their deities. Streaming video

Thailand: King, Combat, and Ad Karabao. 1998. 1 streaming video (48 min.). Unlike its neighbors, Thailand has never been colonized or annexed-but keeping it that way has been a stern challenge. This program examines Thailand's political independence, which is based on democratic and generally peaceful rule by a culturally supported monarchy. However, growing dissatisfaction has caused grass-roots dissent, as demonstrated by the lyrics of pop music idol d Karabao, who protests against imported consumer goods, and the agitation of Ubon Without a Border,a group lobbying for open access with Laos and Cambodia. The powerful yet incongruous influences of Thai boxing and Buddhism are also assessed. Streaming video

Threads of life: hemp and gender in a Hmong village. Ethnographic video online. 2007. 1 streaming video (28 min.). A sociological look at the importance of hemp production in gender relationships in a remote village in Thailand. Streaming video

Trading women. 2007. 1 videodisc (77 min.). This documentary concerns the trafficking of women and girls into the Thai sex industry, and examines the related social and political factors. Profiles the hill peoples of Thailand, noting that lack of citizenship, with its associated landlessness, poverty and vulnerability to police corruption, is an overriding factor in the women becoming easy prey to sex traffickers. DVD 2056

Why Women Count: Video Clip Collection Southeast Asia, Pacific, Caribbean, Latin America. 2008. 1 streaming video (56 min.). Filmed in 11 countries, this collection of video segments spotlights Lydia Cacho, Casimira Rodriguez, and 14 other women who are making a difference in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, the Caribbean, and Latin America. DVD 4629. Streaming video