Lao-American filmmaker Mattie Do will be part of the 2019 International Jury of the Far East Film Festival’s White Mulberry Award. Chanthaly is her mixed-genre first feature.
Chanthaly is a 20-something years old woman. She has a heart problem, making her take medicines and forbidding her to leave the house. The young stay-at-home daughter has been raised by her father, as her mother died in childbirth. She starts seeing her mother’s ghost and having flash-backs, which leads her to question her life story.
“Chanthaly” is hard to define and never takes the expected path, which makes it even more interesting.
Do’s film definitely has a touch of horror with the mother’s ghost. At first, the object of fear (the phantom) is suggested and not shown, in a very “X-Files” way. It evolves to being clearly revealed on screen. The development of the dead’s mother spirit is actually noteworthy.
Chanthaly is a 20-something years old woman. She has a heart problem, making her take medicines and forbidding her to leave the house. The young stay-at-home daughter has been raised by her father, as her mother died in childbirth. She starts seeing her mother’s ghost and having flash-backs, which leads her to question her life story.
“Chanthaly” is hard to define and never takes the expected path, which makes it even more interesting.
Do’s film definitely has a touch of horror with the mother’s ghost. At first, the object of fear (the phantom) is suggested and not shown, in a very “X-Files” way. It evolves to being clearly revealed on screen. The development of the dead’s mother spirit is actually noteworthy.
- 4/28/2019
- by Oriana Virone
- AsianMoviePulse
Even though the country of Laos only has thirteen produced films to its name, it’s already an exemplary proponent of equal opportunities. Female director Mattie Do accounts for two out of those thirteen titles, and even more impressively, both are ambitious horror films. In 2013, Do brought Chanthaly to Austin’s Fantastic Fest, and now she’s back with another unnerving Laotian tale by the name of Dearest Sister – a family affair haunted by greed and selfishness. No gimmicks or grading curves are needed to appreciate Laos’ budding local “Hollywood” scene, as Do helps put an entire country on the genre map with only her second feature film. No such thing as too little, too late!
Amphaiphun Phommapunya stars as a “lowly” villager (Nok) who’s called to Vientiane (Laos’ capital) so she can care for her sight-impaired cousin, Ana (Vilouna Phetmany). Nok is welcomed by Ana’s husband Jakob (Tambet Tuisk) upon her arrival,...
Amphaiphun Phommapunya stars as a “lowly” villager (Nok) who’s called to Vientiane (Laos’ capital) so she can care for her sight-impaired cousin, Ana (Vilouna Phetmany). Nok is welcomed by Ana’s husband Jakob (Tambet Tuisk) upon her arrival,...
- 10/1/2016
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
People say that there is art through adversity. As such, to begin, it’s worth stating that Mattie Do‘s latest feature is the 13th film to come out of Laos… in its history. Furthermore, it is worth noting that she is a female filmmaker in a Marxist state. So while the country is fraught with local censorship, Do is able to deliver quality films in a place where there is no film industry or infrastructure for that kind of entertainment.
Creative struggles are one thing, but judging the finished product, Dearest Sister is an admittedly hard film to review. The premise seems straightforward, yet vague enough to pique your interest: “After moving to the city, a poor woman realizes her recently blinded cousin can not only commune with the dead, but they can provide a path to much-needed wealth.” So it is the latter part of that synopsis that...
Creative struggles are one thing, but judging the finished product, Dearest Sister is an admittedly hard film to review. The premise seems straightforward, yet vague enough to pique your interest: “After moving to the city, a poor woman realizes her recently blinded cousin can not only commune with the dead, but they can provide a path to much-needed wealth.” So it is the latter part of that synopsis that...
- 9/26/2016
- by Marc Ciafardini
- The Film Stage
With only her second film as director, Mattie Do takes a big step forward, both for herself as an artist and for Laos as a filmmaking community. Do broke ground with Chantaly, her debut as a filmmaker and also the first horror movie ever produced in the country. As with her first effort, Dearest Sister focuses closely on its characters rather than bloodletting or rollercoaster thrills; the pace is measured and deliberate and even more involving this time around. The atmosphere is built slowly, revealed through the eyes of naive country girl Nok (Amphaiphun Phommapunya, also the lead in Chantaly), who is sent by her family to help Ana (Vilouna Phetmany), a distant cousin in the city who is slowly going blind. Ana needs the...
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- 9/26/2016
- Screen Anarchy
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