This year’s AFC Homegrown Foodways Film Series is dedicated to celebrating the Center’s Community Collections Grants program recipients, their projects, and community traditions. Kicking off the series is today’s premiere of Bayous, Buddha, and Padaek: Southern Louisiana’s Lao Foodways by filmmakers Phanat Xanamane, Sami “Sai” Haggood, and Ba Bader, which you can enjoy below!
Bayous, Buddha, and Padaek: Southern Louisiana’s Lao Foodways is a captivating two-part documentary that delves into the rich culinary traditions of the Lao Buddhist immigrant community in Louisiana. Through vibrant storytelling and intimate interviews with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations, the film uncovers how these unique foodways are woven into the fabric of an existing Cajun and Creole culture, highlighting the fusion of flavors and techniques.
Viewers will embark on a journey that celebrates the resilience and creativity of the Lao community, showcasing their traditional dishes intertwined with religious practices and the stories behind them.
Phanat Xanamane is a recipient of a 2022 American Folklife Center’s Community Collections Grant for the project, Louisiana Lao New Year Archive, co-led with Sai Haggood and Ba Bader. You can read more about the project here.
Earlier this year, the project was made available on the Library of Congress website as the online collection, Lao Buddhist New Year Festival in Southern Louisiana. It consists of 18 interviews with Lao Community members from several different generations; 5 compilation videos capturing primary activities and events during the 2022 Lao New Year Festival; and 100+ video and still images of past festivals held between 1985 and 2019 relating to food, religious, music and dance practices, among others.
This post was co-written with the Bayous, Buddha, Padaek filmmaking team. Stay tuned for the second film in the series, El Motor: Coffee and the Heart of Puerto Rico, by filmmaker and Community Collections Grant recipient Russell Oliver, which will premiere here on the Folklife Today blog on Wednesday June 25 at noon U.S. Eastern Time. Both films will also be available on the Library of Congress YouTube channel.
The Community Collections Grants program is part of the Library’s Of the People: Widening the Path initiative.
Comments (2)
Such a tremendous and touching documentary! I have been to the Lao New Year’s Festival and I hope more of my fellow Louisianians will go next year.
Such a touching film I really enjoyed it! That gumbo padaek looked incredible save me a bowl please!