The Mekong Mini Movie Festival will make its debut at TRAVEX this Friday as a year-long event to celebrate the myriad faces and experiences of the Greater Mekong Subregion, promote the region as a single tourist destination, and attract business.
Jens Thraenhart, executive director of Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), said the festival is a public-private partnership initiated by Destination Mekong, an organisation set up this month and comprising the NTOs of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, MTCO and private sectors in the six countries.
To achieve its objectives, the festival will attract both amateur and professional moviemakers to create short films – running no more than 60 seconds – of any one destination or up to three in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
Videos must first be registered at MekongMoments.com, and then be posted on the creator’s own Twitter, Instagram or YouTube accounts, bearing the hashtags #MekongMoments, #Minis and the country being showcased.
The organisers will shortlist some of the best submissions, with three winners in the single-destination category to be announced at the Mekong Tourism Forum in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand this June 27 to 28, and another three in the multi-destination category awarded at ATF 2019 in Vietnam.
Thraenhart told TTG Asia: “We hope to create a large amount of inspiring content for the region with promotions and screenings internationally. We also hope this will become an annual campaign.”
The festival will be promoted through the MTCO website and social media, as well as the online and offline channels belonging to NTOs and DMOs of the Greater Mekong Subregion, and participating media owners and private sector.
