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Not Friends (Puen-Mai-Sanit)
Directed by Atta Hemwadee
Official selection
International Film Festival Rotterdam 2024
Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024
21° Asian Film Festival 2024
Honors
Best Screenplay - Thai Film Director Awards 2024
Director
Atta Hemwadee
Writer
Atta Hemwadee
Cast
Anthony Buisseret, Pisitpol Ekaphongpisit, Thitiya Jirapornsilp
contact
GDH 559 Co., Ltd.
“Not only an energetic high-school comedy, but also an uplifting and engaging drama exploring the essence of friendship, growing up, and searching for an identity”– Tobiasz Dunin, ASIAN MOVIE PULSE
As the deadline for university admissions looms, Pae, a less-than-exemplary student who just transferred to a new high school following a physical altercation, is hoping for a way out of spending his life working for his father’s business. So when a teacher mentions an arts program that offers direct admission through a short-film competition, Pae believes to have found the perfect solution to this dilemma: he’s going to direct a tearjerking tribute to former classmate Joe, who recently passed away tragically. There’s just one small problem—he barely knew Joe, and will soon be faced with a significant hurdle in the form of Bokeh, a fiercely passionate girl who shared a genuine bond with him. Determined nonetheless, and as word spreads around the community about his poignant school project, Pae recruits a group of misfit students from the audiovisual club to help bring his vision to life and make up for his lack of filmmaking experience. But little do they know, Joe had secrets of his own.
From the popular studio and distribution house GDH, which stands for “Gross Domestic Happiness” and has brought us past Fantasia favourites BAD GENIUS (2017) and FAST AND FEEL LOVE (2022), NOT FRIENDS was Thailand’s entry in the Best International Feature category for this year’s Academy Awards. After working alongside the acclaimed novelist, artist, and filmmaker Prabda Yoon, Atta Hemwadee delivers a promising feature debut with this refreshingly twisty coming-of-age story based on his own screenplay. Mostly composed of newcomers, its young ensemble cast is brimming with charm and authenticity, achieving a sense of wistful nostalgia that most “high school films” fail to convey. You will laugh, you might cry, and if this doesn’t compel you to give your closest friend(s) a call and create something beautiful together—nothing will! – Alyssia Duval-Nguon
Showings
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