Akha
A full-length documentary set on the frontiers of China and Southeast Asia that offers an intimate, layered perspective of one of the region's most marginalized and misunderstood ethnic groups.
There are two classically misinformed perceptions of the Akha, the seemingly centenarian opium smoker with tar-stained teeth who the traveler briefly encounters (and photographs) while trekking through a small village in northern Thailand; and the elderly women hawking trinkets and marijuana to tourists on the streets of Bangkok wearing bedazzled headdresses. Politically neglected and socially marginalized, the perception of the Akha often begins and ends with opium, HIV/AIDS, poverty and a patronizing visage of exoticism that borders on noble savagery.
Zhao Rongjie spent months living, traveling and collecting stories in mountain-villages across Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and China in order to craft a more authentic, humanizing, and, ultimately, fascinating portrait of Akha identity, customs, and concerns. Her film balances the heartbreaking realities of addiction and social degeneration with mesmerizing scenes of mountain life and intimate dialogues that few outsiders will ever have a chance to experience. offers a more personal, nuanced and humanizing glimpse into the legacies of migration, transnationalism and age-old customs that unify divergent communities in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and China.
Shandong-born painter, visual artist, and videographer who studied oil painting and copperplate engraving at Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. She lives in an ancient stone home in the mountains of southwest China.
