The Day Electricity Reached Hathine: a Remote Village in a Turning Point | SLICE | FULL DOCUMENTARY

In the village of Hathine, in northern Laos, electricity arrives after generations of life shaped by daylight, ritual, and oral transmission. For 600 residents, the new power lines promise comfort and progress. Light extends the day. Screens open windows to distant worlds. Music, television, and satellite dishes enter homes once ruled by silence and fire.

But electricity is not neutral. As habits shift, tensions surface. Younger villagers begin to detach from inherited codes, while elders struggle to maintain authority. The shaman and the schoolteacher, initially hopeful, confront changes that run deeper than infrastructure. Women imagine different futures for their daughters, built on education and independence rather than repetition.

Filmed on location with close observational access, this documentary captures a community at a turning point, where a technical upgrade becomes a cultural rupture, reshaping beliefs, power, and identity.


Documentary: The Genie in the Light Bulb
Directed by: Martin Meissonnier, Pascal Signolet
Production: Productions Campagne Première


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