I Carried You Home comes home again

Tongpong Chantararangkul's road-trip drama I Carried You Home (Padang Besar, ปาดังเบซา) is coming home again to Thailand, opening this week in a limited theatrical run in Bangkok.

The debut feature from Tongpong, I Carried You Home is the story of estranged sisters who are reunited by the bizarre circumstances of their mother's death. They are to escort their mom's body on an ambulance drive from Bangkok to their hometown of Pedang Besar on the Thai-Malaysian border.

During the langorous journey south, the tale ever-so-slowly dips in and out of the past as it reveals why the sisters grew apart. Along for the ride is the stoner ambulance driver, who offers a bit of comic relief.

Apinya Sakuljaroensuk stars as the spirited and angry younger sister with Akhamsiri Suwanasuk as the older sibling who mysteriously moved away to Singapore.

I Carried You Home premiered at last year's Busan International Film Festival, where it was in the New Currents competition. It had been supported by Busan's Asian Cinema Fund.

Other festival appearances have included Marrakech, Vancouver Rotterdam and Deauville.

It made its Thai premiere this past January at the 9th World Film Festival of Bangkok, which had been postponed from November because of the floods. It screened again in June as part of the Thai selection at the MovieMov Italian Film Festival in Bangkok.

Tongpong's feature will also be screened in the upcoming Toyko International Film Festival.

It was also recently shown in Washington, D.C., as part of the Royal Thai Embassy's film festival, which also included The Overture with live musical performance, Kongdej Jaturanrasamee's P-047 and Wichanon Sumumjarn's In April the Following Year, There Was a Fire.

I Carried You Home opens on Thursday at the Lido cinemas in Siam Square and at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld.

Have a look at the trailer, embedded below.