// Manta Ray //
// A Film By Phuttiphong Aroonpheng //
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
7:00 PM
UWM Union Cinema
2200 E Kenwood Blvd
Milwaukee, WI 53211
// Presented in collaboration with the UWM Union Cinema, UWM Department of Film, Video, Animation, and New Genres, and Experimental Tuesdays at the Union Cinema //
// Many Thanks to Phuttiphong Aroonpheng and Jour2Fête for making this screening possible //
Manta Ray (Kraben Rahu), 2018
Phuttiphong Aroonpheng, 105 min, DCP
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.
Artist Bio:
Phuttiphong AROONPHENG (born 1976) studied fine arts at Bangkok’s Silpakorn University. He is particularly interested in avant-garde and experimental film. Phuttiphong’s films have been showed both international film festivals and art exhibitions, including the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Busan International Film Festival, Singapore International Short Film Festival, Asian gallery 4A Sydney, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Japan, Irish Museum of Modern Art and many others.
Phuttiphong also works extensively as cinematographer, with credits including VANISHING POINT (dir. Jakrawal Nilthamrong), THE ISLAND FUNERAL (dir. Pimpaka Towira) and DOLPHINS (dir. Waleed Al-Shehhi). He has practice and skill in many different levels of the visual storytelling process, from commercials to narrative and documentary filmmaking. He received Asian New Talent Award in cinematography from Shanghai International Film Festival in 2006. Manta Ray is his debut feature length film.