Manta Ray

Delving into Thailand’s treatment of Rohingyan refugees, cinematographer Phuttiphong Aroonpheng turns director with this visually stunning drama, which won the Orizzonti Prize for Best Film at last year’s Venice Film Festival.

When a mute man washes up on the Thai coastline, a young fisherman takes him in, nurses him back to health and even gives him a name. But the more that the stranger becomes immersed in his new friend’s life, the more comfortable he becomes – especially when the fisherman suddenly disappears.

A quietly impassioned exploration of a global issue from an intimate perspective, Aroonpheng’s feature film directorial debut is a work of simmering political power, as conveyed with the dreamlike, symbolism-laden visual style also favoured by his compatriot Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

“At once a visual feast and a nuanced personal drama which embodies all the social and geographical complexities of the global refugee crisis.” – The Hollywood Reporter