Monday Night Film Series: Pop Aye

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.

Pop Aye is a 2017 Singaporean-Thai drama film directed by Kirsten Tan. A debut feature by Tan, the road film tells the story of a man as he tries to take his long-lost elephant back to their rural hometown. The first Singaporean film selected to screen at the Sundance, it competed and won a Special Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

Thana (Thaneth Warakulnukroh), a middle-aged architect, is disillusioned at work as well as at home with his wife Bo (Penpak Sirikul). One day, as he wanders the Bangkok city, he chances upon an elephant which turns out to be his childhood companion, Pop Aye. He then decides to take the elephant back to the rural village where they grew up together and into his uncle Peak’s (Narong Pongpab) care. Thus, they embark on their homecoming journey through the rural Thailand to their hometown in Loei Province, Isan.

Pop Aye | Monday Night Film Series | Tilley Hall, Room 102, UNB Campus | September 25, 2017 – 7:30pm | See full schedule