the first professional lam luang troupe in Laos. The performances center on social issues, traditional themes, and national propaganda. Dance The national folk dance in Laos is the lam vong. The lam vong begins with an individual using head and hand movements based on Buddhist mudras, who is then joined by a partner, and then by other couples until a crowd forms with three interconnected and slowly turning circles. Performance based dances from the royal courts are rare, with highly symbolic movements and steps by female dancers. In the 1980s many of the royal court dancers from Luang Prabang fled the Pathet Lao government to relocate in Nashville, Tennessee. Other traditional performance dances include the "fon dhab" or “sword dance” which is a dance display of men's martial arts. There are a number of folk dances which are popular with Lao Theung and Lao Sung groups, which have heavily adopted traditional Lao dance features. The Hmong perform the "fon bun kin chieng" or Hmong “New Year dance;” the Khmu have a courtship dance known as the "fon pao bang"; the Red and Black Tai have a bamboo cane dance, and the Yao are known for bell and drum dances. There are numerous regional and ethnic variations on all traditional dances in Laos. Film Laos has little film or media industry. Television, film, radio and internet media from neighboring Thailand is wide spread and is a source of political and cultural tension. Prior to the 1950s in Laos only documentary French photographs and rarer film footage existed. In the 1960s the Royal Lao Government produced the first feature films in Laos, Khukhak Peunkhaen “The True and Untrue Friend,” and Phaenedin Khong Hao “Our Land.” During the 1970s and 1980s propaganda films were common and the Ministry of Culture took over all production. A number of American movies were set in Laos during this period, but not filmed there, and concentrated on the Vietnam War era perspective. Among American documentaries about Laos the Nerakhoon or “The Betrayal,” is widely known and follows a family that fled Laos in the 1970s and follows their post-Vietnam War story in the United States. In 2007 the full-length feature movie Sabaidee Luang Prabang “Good Morning Luang Prabang” was released by Thai director Sakchai Deenan about a Thai photographer who falls in love with a Lao tour guide. Also in 2007, the Australian documentary Bomb Harvest was