Low-budget student documentary wins Thailand’s top prize

“The Last Breath of Sam Yan” won the prestigious Suphannahong National Film Award for best documentary in 2023, proving that even a low-budget student film can win high honours if it tells a story well.

Produced by Settanant Thanakitkoses and Netiwit Chotphatphaisal while they were students at Chulalongkorn University, the film took two years to make on a small budget of 200,000 baht they raised from working at the Sam Yan Press.

“Most of the money was spent on renting the equipment and paying our friends from the Faculty of Communication Arts for their work, as we did not know how to use these large film cameras,” said Settanant, who graduated from the Faculty of Arts.

The film was released in theatres and on Netflix last year.
While neither Settanant nor Netiwit had prior filmmaking experience, they were driven by a desire to protect a century-old Chinese shrine from demolition. The documentary was also made possible by the directorial talents of communication arts student Prempapat Plittapolkranpim.

The 75-minute-long film tells the story of the shrine of Mazu – a Chinese sea goddess known as “Chao Mae Thapthim” in Thai and worshipped by descendants of immigrants from southern China.

The original shrine was built some 150 years ago, but rebuilt again in 1970 after a fire that spared the goddess’s wooden statute.

The story of the shrine is close to the outspoken activist Netiwit’s heart. Netiwit graduated from Chulalongkorn’s Faculty of Political Science last year and in his website (https://netiwit.com) he describes himself as a “conscientious objector for democracy, human rights and the Milk Tea Alliance”. The Milk Tea Alliance refers to a loose coalition of young pro-democracy and human rights activists from across Asia.
 

How it all started
Back in 2007, the PMCU came up with a “Land Development Plan”, which included transforming Bangkok’s Sam Yan area into a commercial centre and converting the Chiang Gong area, where the shrine stands, into a 400-room condominium.

“By the time I began working on this issue, the community had been eliminated and only the shrine was standing,” Netiwit said.
In May 2020, PMCU ordered the shrine’s caretaker, Penprapa “Nok” Ployseesuay, to move out of the premises and slapped her with a 4.6 billion lawsuit the following month for refusing to budge.

This sparked a local movement to protect the shrine, dubbed the “last breath of Sam Yan”.

In August last year, the Bangkok South Civil Court ruled in favour of PMCU, but the defendants are appealing the verdict.
The producers of the film, however, say they are not out to fight Chulalongkorn University. Instead, they wish to shed light on exactly what happened and document reality.

“What if the shrine were demolished before the next generation learned what it looked like? That’s why I decided to make the documentary,” Netiwit said.

Since the film was released, the shrine, which sits in the middle of a construction ground, has become popular among the young generation. They now come to burn incense and pray for wishes to come true.

“Nok said that soon after the film was released, the shrine began getting crowded, leaving her in tears. I thought these were tears of happiness, but they were actually caused by the thick incense smoke,” Sattanant said with a laugh.
“Some of these devout people came to feed the five small pups living there, while others came to lend Nok support.”

As to whether this interest in the shrine was genuine devotion, Netiwit said he was not sure, but reckoned there must be some connection.

“When the movie hit the big screen in mid-2023, people would walk to the shrine from House Sam Yan theatre, because it was just 15 minutes away. They would then share information about the shrine and the film on social media,” he said.

Netiwit added that claims that wishes had been granted after praying at the shrine also made it and the documentary more popular.

“As public attention grew, we found more space in media, which again led to more supporters. With more supporters, we now have more bargaining power. The university executives are also paying attention to public opinion,” Settanant said.

“The movement aims to capture public attention, even though we have a very low chance of winning in court. The land belongs to PMCU. But we hope that if we keep working on this issue, maybe it will drop the lawsuit against Nok.”
Netiwit, however, sees a miracle.

“The court kept postponing the verdict, which gave us more time to work on the case. By the time the ruling was made, we had the film ready not only to document the existence of the shrine but to also use as a weapon in the battle.”
 
Was it really a miracle?

“We have lost the first round,” admitted Netiwit. “PMCU has been claiming damages from the date Nok refused to move out and by now, the total of this so-called damage has accumulated to 122 million baht, not including interest.”
In its ruling, the court ordered Nok to move out, but reduced the fine to 500 baht per day.

The case is now in the Appeals Court, though Setthanant is worried that the battle will be long drawn out and expensive.
He pointed out that a newly amended law prevents the court of first instance from suspending a case, which means the case will hang in limbo.

“Now it requires an order from the appellate court, but because PMCU has filed a request to amend the case, the verdict is further delayed. Currently, there is no order to suspend the case, so PMCU has informed the Enforcement Directorate to have Nok arrested for not complying with the court order,” Settanant said.
 
Glimmer of hope?

“I hope the newly appointed university executives will find some legitimate way of sorting this out,” Netiwit said, adding that the shrine and the condominium should be able to co-exist.

“The shrine stands on a small piece of land, and they want to use this land as a garden for the tall condominium building. But, if the university changed its viewpoint, it can see that the old and the new can live together side by side,” he added.
 
Social issues and entertainment

“I believe films and documentaries are very effective in engaging people. Activists often think that if a person thoroughly understands a topic, they would see things from their viewpoint. But this is not always the case,” Settanant said.

“We have been using different methods to raise awareness on this topic, such as holding rallies, launching hashtags on X [formerly Twitter] or talking to the media. But none of these methods really caught the public’s attention.

“The documentary, however, appears to have worked and made the issue easier to understand. In a film, viewers are systematically presented with information, which fosters a sense of involvement,” he explained.

“Capturing the issue on a film also shortens the time and energy used to explain a topic. It creates a narrative and gives the audience a clearer picture of what happened, the problems and how people are affected. When you see it and feel it, we get connected,” Settanant added.