Kino Lorber Opens Sundance Winner POP AYE at New York's Film Forum

By: Jun. 05, 2017
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Kino Lorber is pleased to announce the US theatrical run of Kirsten Tan's POP AYE, beginning Wednesday, June 28, at New York's Film Forum. The film also opens on July 7 in Los Angeles (Nuart Theatre) and Miami (Miami Dade College Tower Theatre), expanding to other national markets on July 14 (San Francisco, Chicago, Santa Fe), July 21 (DC, Denver, San Diego) and in August, 2017.

Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, director Kirsten Tan became the first Singaporean to ever win an award at the celebrated Park City film festival.

POP AYE tells the story of Thana, a successful Bangkok architect, whose late-midlife crisis leads to an encounter with the elephant (Popeye) with whom he spent an idyllic childhood in the Thai countryside. Together they embark on a road trip to deliver both man and beast to their origins.

The local police cite him for not having a permit to travel with an elephant; a transgender prostitute joins him in a karaoke duet at a roadside dive; and a poetic, possibly delusional, pauper offers companionship.

But the real star is the big guy: Popeye lumbers along with great dignity and endless fortitude. He is the center of a mysterious, funny and often absurd universe that while seemingly particular to Thailand is, ultimately, not unlike our own.

"A tender and sharply etched journey. Unhurried and unforgettable. Thaneth Warakulnukroh brings a perfect combination of melancholy, frustration and frayed vitality to the role of Thana. Laced with piercing humor, Tan's dialogue has a natural sting to match its open-heartedness, Every character and relationship is imbued with a fascinating complexity."
- Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter

"Tan has pulled off POP AYE with candor and laid-back aplomb. Warm yet unsentimental, graced with the lightest touch of surrealism."
- Maggie Lee, Variety

POP AYE (2017, 102 mins.) Written & directed by Kirsten Tan.
Released by Kino Lorber.

Press screenings (both held at Film Forum):
Thursday, June 15 at 10:00 am
Wednesday, June 21 at 10:00 am



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