Between 1964 and 1973 the US Air Force dropped more than two millions tons of explosives on the country. Most of the 500,000 bombing missions concentrated on the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail which ran through Laos. Fifty years later, those tons of unexploded ordnance represent both a danger and a resource. These remnants of war have caused more than 20,000 victims, but resourceful Laotians have also transformed ordnance into countless products. Tourists fascinated by the ordnance displays are drawn to the mythology of the Ho Chi Minh Trail itself. The Remnants is a journey into the culture and spirit of a people that incorporates construction and destruction with reinvention, converting killing objects into decorative works and tools for everyday life.

Paolo Barberi Anthropologist and documentarist, he started his audiovisual career at the Laboratory of Visual Anthropology “Diego Carpitella of the Sapienza University of Rome. He currently works as a teacher and researcher at the University of Ferrara.

Riccardo Russo Riccardo Russo is an award winning documentary director and DOP, with a specialization in Human Rights and a PhD in Human Geography. He co-founded in 2005 Esplorare la Metropoli, a research and filmmaking association, active in the field of social humanitarian communication.

paolo.barberi@gmail.com