Hot from its multi-territory success with “ How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies ,” Thai film studio GDH559 set out a powerful production and releasing slate for the coming year. Significantly, four of its next five releases have LGBT themes. Released in April, “Grandma” earned THB339 million ($9.
4 million) in Thailand . It has since broken records in five countries for Thai-language film on its way to earning a cumulative THB1.2 billion ($33.
3 million) and plays imminently at the New York Asian Film Festival. Nearest to release, and most accomplished-looking of the new slate, is “The Paradise of Thorns,” a comedy drama about a man who is cut out of his lover’s durian farm inheritance due to a lack of paperwork and hereto-centric laws. A similar theme was explored earlier this year in Ray Yeung’s Teddy Award-winning drama “All Shall Be Well,” which told its story from a lesbian point of view and set it in Hong Kong.
In recent months, Thailand’s lower house of parliament has approved a same-sex marriage bill, though it has not yet become law – a problem that “Thorns” hints at. “Thorns” stars singer Jeff Satur and former beauty queen Engfa Waraha, who both make their acting debuts and who both performed on stage at GDH’s airline-themed presentation at Bangkok’s Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. The film is directed by Narubet ‘Boss’ Kuno (TV’s “I Told Sunset About You”) and was jointly produced by GDH and Jai Studio.
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