The film has won the coveted Grimme Prize for the best fiction/special category for 2016. Although the award jury has already publicly announced the winners of the prestigious awards for German television, dubbed the “German TV Oscars”, the gala presentation will be held in the city of Marl on April 8.
“Lead actress Aisawanya Areyawattana will be flying over to receive the award,” Tom Waller, Co-Producer of Patong Girl, told The Phuket News today (Mar 31).
Aisawanya plays “Fai”, who German tourist Felix Schroeöder, played by Max Mauff, falls in love with while on holiday in Phuket with his family.
From there, the plot takes twists and turns, to resounding critical acclaim in Germany for highlighting the intricacies of cross-cultural romance.
“Patong Girl had a theatrical release before it was shown on television, so the film is considered a feature film but funded by television. So what happened is that the film was shown at festivals and then in cinemas before it was released on television,” Mr Waller explained.
“But Thailand is still obviously catching up with this, so we decided to show the film in theatres here (in Thailand) because it has won an award – and it is a prestigious award – and there are very few inter-cultural romances shown in the theatres here between Thailand and foreigners who come here and fall in love.
“We felt it was entirely appropriate to show not only to premiere in Patong but to show in cinemas in four cities across Thailand,” he said.
Exclusive presentations of Patong Girl will be released only in participating SF cinemas: SF World in Bangkok, SF Pattaya Beach, SF Jungceylon in Phuket and SF Maya-Chiangmai.
Directed by Susanna Salonen, Patong Girl was created by De Warrenne Pictures Co Ltd, founded by Waller in 2004. The studio is responsible for producing award-winning films such as The Last Executioner (เพชฌฆาต), Mindfulness and Murder (ศพไม่เงียบ), Soi Cowboy (ซอยคาวบอย), The Elephant King (ฤดูแห่งรัก), Ghost of Mae Nak (นาก รักแท้ วิญญาณ ความตาย) and Butterfly Man (ผีเสื้อร้อนรัก).
For more details about Patong Girl, visit Patong-Girl.com or the official Facebook page here.
The Phuket premiere screening of Patong Girl is proudly supported by Live 89.5 and The Phuket News TV.