Director: Euthana Mukdasanit, Surachai Jantimatorn, Rasamee Paoluangthong
Screenplay: Khamsing Srinawk, Wittayakorn Chiengkul, Paijong Laisakul, Mike Morrow
Cinematographer: Frank Green
Editing: Paijong Laisakul
Music: Surachai Jantimatorn
Cast: Tongpan (Ongart), Ponethon, Pornhom Pilasombat, Khamsing Srinork, Peter Bell, Surachai Jantimatorn, Saneh Chamarik, Sulak Sivaraksa
Production: The Isan Film Group, Mike Morrow
With the kind permission by Paijong Laisakul and Thai Film Archive
Year: 1976
Digital copy after restored original print, B&W, 63 mn, OV Thai with English and French electronic subtitles
French Premiere
Just after 1973’s democracy movements, farmer Tongpan is invited by university students to attend a seminar in Bangkok to talk about his harsh life experience after losing everything due to a dam construction. Earning 100 USD a year to watch over his landlord’s chicken, he cannot afford enough food for his two children and his wife suffering from tuberculosis.
Based on real events and played by real people, the docudrama Tongpan counts amidst the very first Thai social movies. Directed by a group of students involved in the 1973 democracy movement, the movie was banned after the 1976 demonstrations, directors and participants were sent to jail or exiled.
