New Clip and Poster for Onlookers

In Onlookers, the third feature from Kimi Takesue, phone-waving tourists throng the religious sites and cultural landmarks and swarm the natural landscapes of Laos. “Meanwhile,” wrote Michael Sicinski for Film Comment when Onlookers screened as part of last year’s Prismatic Ground festival, “everyday Laotians go about their business, fully aware that, to the paying visitors, they are part of the scenery. With its deft use of offscreen space (stately images of Buddhist architecture keep getting ‘ruined’ by the arrival of backpackers and shutterbugs), Onlookers provides a piercing and ironic examination of seemingly benevolent cultural consumption.”