Becoming Alluvium is structured around three chapters telling stories of destruction, reincarnation and renewal, centred around the ebb and flow of the Mekong River, which runs through Tibet, China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Blending a myriad of footage, Thao Nguyen Phan’s evocative short explores the Mekong River—also present in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s work—by drawing from the region’s folklore and stories, real and imagined. A contemplative flow runs through this film concerned with memory and ecology in Vietnam.