Manta Ray

Kraben Rahu

DIRECTOR(S): Phuttiphong Aroonpheng   COUNTRIES: Thailand, France, China   YEAR: 2018   LANGUAGE(S): Thai   SUBTITLES: German, English   RUNNING TIME: 105 min

SECTION: International Competition 2019

SCREENINGS

Saturday, 05.10., 11.00 am, kommkino
Monday, 07.10., 7.15 pm, kommkino, Q&A with Aphisit Hama (actor)

SYNOPSIS

Near a coastal village of Thailand, by the sea where thousands of Rohingya refugees have drowned, a local fisherman finds an injured man lying unconscious in the forest. He rescues the stranger, who does not speak a word, offers him his friendship and names him Thongchai. But when the fisherman suddenly disappears at sea, Thongchai slowly begins to take over his friend’s life – his house, his job and his ex-wife…

Director’s statement
Because I’m a DoP by training, I’m not confident when I have to tell a story through words, dialogue or other devices apart from the cinematography. MANTA RAY is driven by visual and sound; it works almost like an abstract piece, or an instrumental music. And because most of the films I’ve shot in my career are low-budget films, I was trained to improvise and to adapt to the situation. I didn’t have the luxury of being able to design everything in advance and hoping it would turn out as I had envisioned; instead we would go to a location and see what we can do about it. So most the films I shot tend to have this look of a documentary, something slightly spontaneous, and it’s the same in MANTA RAY.

PHUTTIPHONG AROONPHENG

Phuttiphong Aroonpheng was born Thailand in 1976, graduated in Fine Arts from Silpakorn University and then studied at the Digital Film Academy of New York. Phuttiphong’s short films have been shown at both international film festivals and art exhibitions. Ferris Wheel (2015) screened at over 20 festivals and received ten awards. In 2009, Aroonpheng participated in the Asian Film Academy at Busan. Manta Ray is his feature debut.

FILMOGRAPHY

Going to the Sea (2006), Retrospection (2006), The Most Beautiful Man in the World (2007), My Image Observe Your Image If It Is Possible to Observe It (2008), A Tale of Heaven (2010), Ferris Wheel (2015), Manta Ray (2018)

SCRIPT: Phuttiphong Aroonpheng   PRODUCERS: Mai Meksawan, Jakrawal Nilthamrong, Chatchai Chaiyon, Philippe Avril   CAMERA: Nawarophaat Rungphiboonsophit   EDITORS: Lee Chatametikool, Harin Paesongthai   MUSIC: Christine Ott, Mathieu Gabry   CAST: Wanlop Rungkumjad, Aphisit Hama, Rasmee Wayrana

PRODUCTION: Diversion, Les Films de l’Étranger   WORLD SALES: Clémence Michalon, Jour2fête  

WEBSITE
http://www.diversion-th.com/mantaray/