Manta Ray
Kraben rāhu
dir. Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
Thailand / France / China, 2018 - 105
A coastal village in Thailand near which thousands of Rohingya refugees have drowned. A local fisherman accidentally finds a mass grave in the forest. One of the bodies is still alive. The fisherman takes the injured and unconscious man home, cares for him, and names him Thongchai. When the fisherman suddenly disappears at sea, Thongchai anxiously looks for him everywhere. Hoping for his return, he continues to live in the fisherman's house and fishing. Slowly Thongchai’s identity blurs into that of his lost friend… A beautiful film dedicated to the Rohingya refugees who have perished at sea or were found dead in mass graves. It ponders the concepts of identity and foreignness, and the reluctance to welcome “strangers” into our lives. Winner of the award for best film in the Horizons section of this year’s Venice Film Festival.
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