Variety Critics' Choice 2016 / Snap: Kae Dai Kid Tueng / Thailand 2015
Several one-time students of a high school class meet at the wedding of a former classmate, among them Peung, who is also about to be married. Boyd is there too, and memories of their student relationship throw the young woman off balance. The Thai military coup of 2014 forms a backdrop to this emotional and visually accomplished film.
Centered on an Instagram-preoccupied 26-year-old whose reunion with high-school friends raises doubt about her upcoming marriage, this romantic drama represents another impressive achievement by leading indie writer-director Kongdej Jaturanrasmee. Setting his tale against the backdrop of Thailand’s 2014 military coup, Jaturanrasamee has fashioned an absorbing study of young locals grappling with personal identity in an atmosphere of political instability and social disharmony. Forever posting bubbly messages and bright pictures of everywhere she visits and everything she’s eating, Thai office worker Peung (Waruntorn Paonil) is at first glance the very picture of a happy millennial. With her wedding to a hunky military officer on the horizon, Peung seems to have everything in front of her. Away from emoticons and cheery hashtags, it’s a different story, suggesting how creating a social-media personality doesn’t always match real life.
Richard Kuipers
97 min / Color, DCP
European premiere
Director Kongdej Jaturanrasmee
/ Screenplay Kongdej Jaturanrasmee
/ Dir. of Photography Umpornpol Yugala
/ Music Chaibundit Peuchponsub
/ Editor Kamontorn Eakwatanakij , Manussa Vorasingha
/ Art Director Rasiguet Sookkarn, Manop Chaengsawang
/ Producer Soros Sukhum, Kanyarat Jiraratchakit, Piyaluck Mahatanasab
/ Production Song Sound Production
/ Coproduction True Visions Group, North Star Production
/ Cast Toni Rakkaen, Waruntorn Paonil
/ Sales Mosquitio Films Distribution
Kongdej Jaturanrasmee (b. 1972, Thailand), one of the top Thai filmmakers working today, graduated in mass communications from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology in the Bangkok district of Ladkrabang. His first attempts at filmmaking included music videos (he himself sings in a well-known indie band, Si Tao Ter), followed by short films that sparked interest at various festivals. He writes in addition to directing and has several successful Thai movies to his credit. The comedy Sayew (2003), which he wrote and co-directed, took an award at the Seattle IFF, the romantic drama Midnight, My Love (2005) screened at festivals in Deauville and Chicago, and the drama P-047 (2011) premiered at Venice. Other films inventively use a variety of genre forms, among them Handle Me with Care (2008), Tang Wong (2013, screened at Berlin), and So Be It (2014).
Mosquitio Films Distribution
, 10310, Bangkok
Thailand
Phone: +66 891 058 909, +66 253 848 75
E-mail: [email protected]
Kongdej Jaturanrasmee
Film Director
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