Thanks to GoPros, Vimeo and the power of the internet, we've all seen our fair share of Southeast Asia travel videos. These days, it's pretty hard to stand out amid the sea of camera-toting backpackers zigzagging around the region, but some travel videos still manage to take our breath away.
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Case in point: Dreseden-based filmmaker Janis Brod's 'Pictures of Southeast Asia', a thoughtful, six-and-a-half-minute short weaves together a series of beautiful snapshots from across Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.
Where others might stick to panoramas of rice paddies and mountains or document the larger picture of bustling city traffic, Brod's film zeroes in on the everyday rhythms of Southeast Asia, instead focusing on individual people in their daily chores.
From start to finish, carefully crafted vignettes play over an almost metronomic soundtrack, moving along in a peaceful, cyclical rhythm out in the rural villages, where farmers cut crops, fishermen repair nets and boys in swim trunks and goggles search for creatures below the water's surface. By the time Brod hits urban Southeast Asia, the tempo has picked up to match the region's city folk, with delivery drivers careening down roads, students practicing aerobics in the park and noodle vendors cleaning house.
What truly makes the film stand apart is its simple and focused narratives, providing an intimate glimpse into each individual's life. In markets and villages, while offering morning alms to a train of orange-clad monks or zipping through the streets in a tuk-tuk, Brod's frames are spot-on, capturing the essence of everyday life in Southeast Asia.
