Sustainable Nostalgia to Dystopian Future: Toward a Tropical Transnational Ecocinema in Mekong 2030

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.24.1.2025.4149

Keywords:

sustainable nostalgia, ecological nostalgia, dystopian tropical futures, eco-emotion, Mekong countries, tropical transnational ecocinema

Abstract

In recent commercial films and TV series about the Mekong River,­­ depictions of natural landscapes tend to be associated with past stories and settings incorporating tropical aesthetics and poetic countryside. Although likewise presenting a nostalgia for the Mekong, the art-house film anthology Mekong 2030 (2020) intersects the green past with dystopian futures. A project of the Luang Prabang Film Festival, this anthology brought together five directors representing the Mekong countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand. By analyzing Mekong 2030 from the perspectives of sustainable nostalgia (ecological nostalgia) and critical memory studies, this paper evaluates the representation of the Mekong River in popular culture. In contrast to mainstream films, in the Mekong 30 project, the issue of evoking eco-memory (through landscapes, traditions, heritage, etc.) is not to reassure or lull viewers but, on the contrary, to awaken eco-emotions/eco-awareness and contribute to promoting ecological action. From an anthology consistently sharing the same approach from five different personal and national perspectives, this essay identifies the potential of a tropical transnational ecocinema that will contribute to solving the increasingly tense environmental problems of the Mekong during this era of both climatic and environmental impacts and the explosion of global media and visual culture.

Author Biographies

Thanh Tran, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam

Thanh Tran (PhD) is a tenured lecturer and researcher at the Center for Sea and Islands Studies, Faculty of History, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU-Hanoi. His research focuses on the history of Vietnam during the colonial period; diplomatic and trade history in the East Asian region during the 18th-19th centuries; maritime ecological civilization, and more. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Historical Research, Vietnam Social Sciences, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Chinese Studies Review, Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, etc. Email: thanhtx@ussh.edu.vn

Giang Hoang, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam

Giang Hoang is Associate Professor tenured in the Faculty of Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU-Hanoi. In recent years, she has been interested in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches in cinema and literature, such as adaptation studies, memory studies, landscape theory, ecocriticism and ecocinema. Her publications have appeared in the Journal of Urban Culture Research; Landscape Research; Asian Studies; ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment; Landscapes; etc. Email: gianghoang@ussh.edu.vn

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Published

2025-03-14

How to Cite

Tran, T., & Hoang, G. (2025). Sustainable Nostalgia to Dystopian Future: Toward a Tropical Transnational Ecocinema in Mekong 2030. ETropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 24(1), 240–260. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.24.1.2025.4149

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 1 (2025): Tropical Futurisms: Thinking Futures

Section

Essays and Articles

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