MANTA RAY
The screening will be introduced by FILM CRITIC Tony Rayns.
Director: Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
105 minutes. Thailand, France, China. 2018. Subtitled. Colour. D-Cinema.
Orizzonti Award for Best Film, Venice International Film Festival 2018; Golden Getaway Award, Mumbai International Film Festival 2018; Bronze Alexander for Best Director, Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2018.
Festivals Selection: Toronto International Film Festival 2018; San Sebastian International Film Festival 2018; Busan International Film Festival 2018.
Local fisherman (Wanlop Rungkumjad) discovers a man (Aphisit Hama) injured and unconscious in the swamps. Saving him from death, he brings him to hospital, then back to his home to care for him. The stranger is mute, though we understand him to be a Rohingyan refugee. The fisherman calls him ‘Thongchai’ and tells him his life story: his wife who left him for a navy officer; how he digs for gemstones. Slowly the two men bond, spending their days together, fishing, diving.
Thai writer-filmmaker Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s debut feature dedicated to the Rohingya people tackles the refugee experience and questions of identity: self, border, ethnicity, nationhood. Abstract and highly atmospheric the film is driven by a meticulously constructed sound design. Human and poignant yet rooted in a tough realism.
Phuttiphong Aroonpheng (b. 1976 in Bangkok, Thailand) studied fine arts at Bangkok’s Silpakorn University. His short films have screened in many international film festivals including Busan, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Singapore. His short, Ferris Wheel (2015) screened in over 20 festivals and received 10 awards. He has works extensively as a cinematographer. Manta Ray is his debut feature.
