POP AYE

By Kirsten TAN

FEATURETTE - as BUYER REP

Family - Completed 2017

On a chance encounter, a disenchanted architect bumps into his long-lost elephant on the streets of Bangkok. Excited, he takes his elephant on a journey across Thailand, in search of the farm where they grew up together.

Festivals
& Awards

Sundance Film Festival 2017
World Dramatic Spec.Jury Award Screenwriting
Rotterdam IFF 2017
Voices VPRO Big Screen Award
    • Year of production
    • 2017
    • Genres
    • Family, Road movie, Drama
    • Countries
    • SINGAPORE, THAILAND
    • Languages
    • THAI
    • Duration
    • 102 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Kirsten TAN
    • Writer(s)
    • Kirsten TAN, Zhang JIANBIN
    • Producer(s)
    • Weijie LAI (E & W FILMS), Anthony CHEN (GIRAFFE PICTURES PTE LTD)
    • Synopsis
    • Thana, a once-illustrious architect, drifts ever further into existential crisis, propelled by the impending demolition of his proudest work and his wife’s waning romantic interest. Unexpectedly running into his long-lost childhood “pet” elephant Popeye, performing in the streets of Bangkok, spurs Thana on a quest across Thailand to return his displaced friend to rural Loei, the small village where they grew up. As the unlikely travelers saunter at elephant speed, they encounter fellow lost souls, like a gas station vagabond yearning for his first love and a lonely karaoke singer aching for a friend, who encourage them as a series of unfortunate mishaps impede their journey.

      Pop Aye is a humane ode to the power of simple acts of kindness in a world of lost innocence and missed opportunities, punctuated by well-timed bursts of deadpan absurdity. Director Kirsten Tan, in her impressive feature debut, deftly weaves the poignance and humor of Popeye and Thana’s journey with a series of indelibly beautiful cinematic images of the film’s gigantic star in this lyrical road-trip dramedy.