Fishing for Love: How to Catch a Thai Bride

A Thai woman looks off to the side pensively

#WOFFFWATCHALONG

Welcome to our COIVD-19 WOFFF watchalong, co-hosted with ReframedFilm on Thursday 18 June 2020. We hope you enjoy all the films and that you’ll join us on Twitter around 9.00PM (BST) for a chat about what you’ve seen.

VIEWING SCHEDULE 18 JUNE

All times are British Summer Time  (BST) and are approximate. Full links below the viewing schedule:
7:00PM Intro to the programme from WOFFF
7:05PM Film Talk with filmmaker Fi Kelly
7.10PM WOFFF short film THE LAST MERMAID
7.30PM Tonight’s feature film FISHING FOR LOVE: HOW TO CATCH A THAI BRIDE
9.00PM Join the conversation on Twitter about the films. Use the hashtag #WOFFFWatchalong and tag us @WO50FF so we can welcome you into the conversation and so others can find your tweets
9:45 PM Round off the evening with a WOFFF19 short film RE:PLAY by Jeehye Kay Jang

HELLO FROM WOFFF

Hello from the Women Over 50 Film Festival and welcome to our WOFFF Watchalong. This week’s we’ve got three films to share with you. Our feature film is a documentary, 10 years in the making. FISHING FOR LOVE: HOW TO CATCH A THAI BRIDE looks at lives affected – both Thai and Danish – in a small village in Denmark where over 900 young Thai women have come to marry local men in the last 25 years.
Our shorts this week are from Scotland and Denmark – one is a comedy about an eco-warrior, sex-line-chat worker, THE LAST MERMAID, and the other is documentary where a women examines and re-examines a pivotal moment from her young adulthood, RE:PLAY.
This week’s intro is BSL-signed by Irina Drytchak.

FILM TALK: FI KELLY

THE LAST MERMAID director Fi Kelly joins us from Scotland for this Film Talk to tell us about her short environmental comedy.

THE LAST MERMAID

Vape-smoking, whisky-swigging, middle-aged mermaid PEARL hides away on the banks of a remote Scottish loch keeping herself to herself. Owner of an aquatic fantasy sex-line site, she lives a very different life to her enchanting ancestors … she’s the ultimate fish out of water.
THE LAST MERMAID by Fi Kelly and starring Janey Godley was available from 18 – 19 June 2020. This film is no longer available to watch here but you can still watch the trailer here.

FISHING FOR LOVE: HOW TO CATCH A THAI BRIDE
In a small Danish fishing community, more than 900 Thai women are married to local fishermen. 25 years ago Sommai, a former sex worker from north east Thailand, married Niels. This documentary is directed by two filmmakers who are a couple themselves, Sine Plambech and Janus Metzshot and over 10 years it follows four couples. At first, these stories seem straightforward: white men from a wealthy country marrying Asian women looking for a way out of poverty, but a different, far more complex and surprising tale unfolds in the film. 
For viewers in the UK, click the image below to access the film free on BBC iPlayer. Viewers outside the UK can access the film on dvd or it may be available on an on-demand platform.
This film is available on the iPlayer till August 2020.

Fishing for Love: How to Catch a Thai Bride

ONLINE CONVERSATION

Join us on Twitter and tell us what you think of the films so far! Use the hashtag #WOFFFWatchalong so you can see what other people are saying, and then, jump in!

RE:PLAY

In this short documentary RE:PLAY by Jeehye Kay Jang, Katrin, now in her 50s, examines a pivotal moment from her 20s. The moment is created again and again for her by actors. This film is available to view here until 19 June 2020.

NEXT WEEK’S WATCHALONG

Our next film, on Thursday 25 June, is a Reframed Film pick – HIGH LIFE by Claire Denis. This film is available on MUBI here or you can buy the DVD on Hive here. Here’s the trailer.

WATCHALONG FAQS

What are watchalongs? And why is WOFFF doing them? Click here to learn more with our watchalongs FAQs.