The Tan Ean Kiam Foundation-SGIFF Southeast Asian-Documentary

A group of young politicians campaigning against an authoritarian constitution speak up, spark hope and ignite a once-in-a-generation movement in this energetic exploration of the recent elections in Thailand.

Aswang follows a group of people whose lives have been caught up in these events: a journalist who tries to make a stand against lawlessness, a coroner, a missionary brother who comforts bereaved family members, and a street kid with parents in prison and friends in the cemetery. The film is a shocking account of unprecedented violence and the moral bankruptcy of a regime that still enjoys support from voters.

Between faith and ritual, this documentary explores religious culture in Thailand and worshippers from different walks of life across the country.

With bracing honesty, filmmaker Quen Wong shares her journey as a transgender woman in Singapore—from her days as a teenage boy coming out to her uncommonly supportive family, to the present as a woman about to marry the love of her life. Locating herself within the local trans community, the documentary also weaves in interviews with different generations of trans women including ‘Anita’, a former legend of Bugis Street—a world-famous stomping ground for trans women in the 1950s to the ’80s—and Lune LOH, a trans youth activist.

A Sudanese family fees their country, seeking asylum in Thailand. They meet a young flmmaker, newly returned after a decade away from home. Despite their uncertain future, they form a heartfelt bond. They decide to make a flm together.

Longing for a life beyond her hometown in the Thai province of Buriram, Ploy moves to various Southeast Asian cities in search of work. She ends up in Singapore as a sex worker at an illegal, makeshift brothel operating under the cover of a jungle’s leafy darkness that is eventually turned into a public park.