Last weekend was the second ever Vientianale Film Festival, an event in Vientiane, Laos that showcases local film makers.

I created the short film Half Cultured, which is a relatively objective contrast of Lao culture vs. American culture.

Like all of the aspiring film makers that entered a short film to Vientianale, I hoped to win a cash prize to replace the cameras that were stolen from my home when it was burglarized on three separate occasions in 2010.

While I didn’t take any honors, and my film is extremely amateurish, it was shared today on the facebook page of a local Vientiane magazine called Pai Sai. Then it was shared on Facebook 150 times in 20 hours.

I am gratified that the Lao, American, and expat community are so enthusiastic about Half Cultured. I kind of figured that it would have a limited appeal to a very narrow group of people, but perhaps it is more universal than I thought.

Jojo, my 6-year-old, submitted a one minute short that he wrote and directed (I filmed). The name of his film is Rocket to the Future. He actually won the Rising Star Award basically for being the only submission by someone under 16 years old.

Film makers that we are, Jojo and I even got asked to pose for a photo at the film festival when a girl came up and introduced herself as my Fan. To my knowledge she is the first and only.

This is a milestone for my baby book.