ACF
Asian Cinema Fund
Script Development Fund
2013 Script Development Fund
LIST Beer Girl
| Category | Asian Project |
|---|---|
| Project | Beer Girl |
| Director | Wichanon Somumjarn |
| Country | Thailand |
| Director's Profile |
Wichanon Somumjarn was born in Khon Kaen, Thailand. He was a participant in Asian Film Academy (AFA), Pusan International Film Festival 2009. The following year, he was selected to attend the Berlinale Talent Campus in Germany and Tokyo Filmex: Next Masters in Japan. His short film, Four Boys, White Whiskey and Grilled Mouse, a hit in the international film festival circuit, won him Best Fiction award at the prestigious Tampere Film Festival in Finland in 2010. In April the Following Year, There was a Fire is Wichanon’s first feature. It was supported by Hubert Bals Fund (Post-production) and selected for Tiger Awards Competition at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2012. |
- Synopsis
- Ann decides not to go to college after finishing high school. She takes a job at a health & beauty store to support her family ? her mother and her grandmother -- but doesn′t make it past her probation period. She decides to become a ′beer girl′ (beer promoter in a restaurant, a bit similar to being a waitress) to earn more money. Ann meets Tum, a geology student. They start a relationship, founded on their mutual love of country music. One day, Ann’s mother crashes her friend′s car by accident. Ann needs to find money to pay for the repair. She decides to take up a risky job, all with the help from Tum. Something goes horribly wrong and they have to make an escape. In a remote village far away from the city, Ann and Tum find refuge in a small hut hidden in the deep woods.
- Director's Note
-
When I was a university student in my hometown (Khon Kaen, in the northeast of Thailand, known as ‘Isan’), I met a girl whose life was vastly different from mine. She was a polytechnic student and had to work to support herself. Her jobs varied from a shopkeeper, insurance saleswoman, to a ‘beer girl’.
Beer Girl is my second feature film. The title comes from a line in a famous Thai country song, “Sao Isan Ror Rak” (Isan Girl Waiting for Love). The song is about an Isan girl who leads a difficult life working in a farm (while waiting for her true love). In my film, the protagonist struggles to make ends meet and has to get any jobs she could find. The film does not only focus on the little people in the society, but also delves into the heart of Thailand’s deep-rooted problems ? the power structure of the nation.
- Festivals
- Still Cut