The Red Envelope

Nightmares plague Titi’s grandmother after the death of her beloved grandson. She seeks the advice of a shaman, who attributes the unrest to Titi’s failed marriage to his lover Din. The shaman sees Titi’s homosexuality as unproblematic, but a new husband must be found the restless ghost quickly. This is done with the help of a red envelope, in which Grandma is to place a strain of hair and fingernails from the corpse. Whoever finds this envelope is destined by fate to marry Titi’s ghost. It is the hapless, heterosexual police informant Menn whom Grandma in synch with higher powers, push into the liaison—and thus kick off a fast-paced LGBTQ+ comedy. Was Titi’s death not an accident after all, but murder? The story of Menn and Titi’s rapprochement mixes up gender clichés with a keen sense of Thai humor, leaving room for corrupt police twists, traffic jams which are magically cleared, grandiose dance numbers, heartwarming dog scenes and much more.

The film is a remake of the Taiwanese blockbuster Marry My Dead Body (2022), skillfully and subtly translated to Bangkok with allusions to current scandals. The casting of the popular and outrageously good-looking duo Billkin (Putthipong Assaratanakul) and PP Krit (Krit Amnuaydechkorn) also contributed to the film’s success at the Thai box office—no expense was spared to make it a hit.

Programme

8 pm
Talk with Popo Fan (film curator, filmmaker and LGBTIQ+ activist), Mangkorn „Nick“ Wongnongtoey (social educator, Berlin) and Dorothee Wenner (moderator)

in German

9 pm
Film screening

We warmly thank Parichat Pai.