The Cultural Frontline: South East Asian cinema - a love story
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In South East Asia, cinema attendances are growing, thanks to a renewed interest in local product. For instance, the Thai movie How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, broke box office records this year. We hear from director Pat Boonnitipat about the reasons why he believes his film touched the hearts of so many people. The same is true in Vietnam. Last year the country produced its biggest national and international hit Mai, which also became a social media sensation. Historian Tuyet Van Huynh explains why the film’s star and director Tran Thanh is a phenomenon in his own right. Indonesian director Eugene Panji reveals why his country’s movie industry is also booming, so much so that they are running out of studio space to keep up with the demand. This edition of The Cultural Frontline was recorded before the Myanmar earthquake that also affected parts of Thailand.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This edition of the Cultural Frontline was recorded before the Myanmar earthquake that also affected parts of Thailand. |
| 0:10.4 | Welcome to the documentary The Cultural Frontline from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:16.7 | In this edition, we're exploring the phenomenal success of Southeast Asian cinema since the end of lockdown. |
| 0:24.4 | Surprisingly, after the COVID, movie industry is boom. |
| 0:32.0 | This movie has become one of the most popular movies across Southeast Asia, |
| 0:38.9 | probably one of the top grocers as well. |
| 0:42.6 | Let's start with Thailand and how to make millions before grandma dies. |
| 0:48.1 | It's about a young man who moves in with his terminally ill grandmother, |
| 0:52.2 | initially to get his hands on her money. |
| 0:55.5 | The comedy broke box office records in its home country and resulted in public displays of emotion. |
| 1:02.8 | There were the laughs, and then slowly I could see tears rolling down. |
| 1:07.7 | And I think as gradually we moved, you could hear sobs. |
| 1:12.0 | Vanana Vijay is the senior news editor of the Asia Digital Hub at the BBC World Service. |
| 1:18.3 | And she understands the film's popularity. |
| 1:21.5 | In a way, it's very simple because it has a theme that is very universal. |
| 1:26.1 | The theme is about family, relationships, loss, and the healing that happens through the journey. |
| 1:33.3 | The characters are very relatable. They may not all be very likable, but I think if you |
| 1:39.3 | think of a family, of a big family, probably that's how a typical family looks like. You have people you like, you have people you don't like, |
| 1:46.8 | you have a very complex relationship with them. |
| 1:49.2 | So I think it really touched people's heart, |
| 1:52.7 | and I think that's a very show-shot formula for success and a deep connect. |
| 1:59.2 | Vandana's instincts are backed up by the facts, as her colleague Napperson, a journalist |
... |
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