The Undertaker
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| 8 EUR, reduced 4 EUR |
| FSK 16 |
| Entrance: Portal 5. Note: A severe thunderstorm may lead to the cancellation of the event. |
| Thiti Srinuan / Thailand 2023 / 125 Min. / Horror comedy / Thai with English subtitles |
| English, Thai |
| Ground Floor, Schlüter Courtyard |
| Belongs to: Box Office Around The World |
The wild mix of genres in this film about an undertaker in the province of Isaan – a lot of comedy, a little horror, a little “Sopranos” – surprisingly became an absolute audience favorite in Thailand. When his son is on vacation in his home village, his friend’s depressed girlfriend has just hanged herself and he now wants to apologize to her for his bad behaviour by astral traveling.
Joed is spending the time until his law exams with his father, who works as an undertaker in the province of Isaan. A young woman has hanged herself there and her ex-boyfriend wants to apologise for his bad behaviour by astral travelling before she is cremated. But he needs the help of the undertaker, who – like many in the village – is a real expert in the world between life and death. Contact is made traditionally, but also with the help of AI.
The film is a discovery for anyone who wants to venture on a film trip to a Thailand far off the beaten track. The Undertaker is a spin-off of Thibaan – The Series, with which Thiti Srinuan became famous.
Programme
8 pm
We and the afterlife – Film Talk with Parichat Pai, co-curator of ‘Box Office around the World’, Elisabeth Schönberger, Patrice Ladwig, anthropologist, Eric Wrede, mortician, Berlin. Moderation: Dorothee Wenner
9 pm
Film
Trailer
Parichat Pai, Project Coordinator at Projekt Ban Ying e.V. Coordination and Counseling Center against Human Trafficking.
She grew up in Isaan, Thailand, studied in Berlin and found a second home. As the proud mother of a daughter, she is committed to the Thai community in the city. Through her active involvement in various projects, she enriches coexistence in Berlin and promotes intercultural exchange.
Elisabeth Schönberger is co-founder, influencer and admin of the Facebook page “พ่อบ้านเยอรมัน” (Phorbangerman), which has over 220,000 followers, as well as the TikTok page of the same name with more than 15,000 followers. It offers a platform for Thais from all over the world who are interested in Germany and serves in particular to network the German-Thai community.
This platform helps Thais who have moved to Germany to settle in more easily and find their feet in Germany. For example, it acts as a mediator to help understand the cultures of both countries, expand knowledge and understanding of professions and provide information on adapting in Germany. News is shared here and important information is translated and passed on in Thai.
Elisabeth Schönberger is actively involved in various community projects, especially those involving the Thai community in Germany. She is a nurse by profession and lives with her family in Mosbach.
Patrice Ladwig studied Social Anthropology and Sociology, and obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2008. He worked at the University of Bristol, and was visiting professor at the University of Zürich and Hamburg. Currently, he is research associate at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen. He works on the anthropology of Theravada Buddhism (mainly Laos and Thailand), death and funeral cultures, religion and politics, and has also published on topics such as colonialism, Buddhist law, and economic anthropology. He is co-editor of Buddhist Funeral Cultures of Southeast Asia and China (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and States of Imitation. Mimetic Governmentality and Colonial Rule (Berghahn, 2020).
With his radioeins podcast, his column in the Berliner Zeitung and his Spiegel bestsellers, Wrede stands for a new kind of funeral culture that focuses on the needs of the mourners, detached from tradition. With his media work, he brings dying and mourning out of the dark corner and into the midst of life among us.
Partner
We warmly thank Parichat Pai and Donsaron Kovitvanitcha.