Original title: อานนเป็นนักเรียนตัวอย่าง / Arnon pen nakrian tuayang
Director: Sorayos Prapapan
Runtime: 85 mins
Country: Thailand, Singapore, France, Netherlands, Philippines
Language: Thai, with English subtitles
Rating: PG13
Awards
BERWICK NEW CINEMA AWARD
Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival 2023
NEW TALENT AWARD
Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2022
ASIAN FEATURE FILM (SPECIAL MENTION)
Singapore International Film Festival 2022
Synopsis
Arnold is the pride and joy of his high school: he excels in academic competitions, speaks fluent English, and has just returned from a prestigious overseas exchange programme. But that does not stop him from playing tricks on his unsuspecting classmates and retorting with smart-alecky wisecracks when reprimanded by strict disciplinarian Mrs Wanee. While resentment against the school’s punitive measures brews among his classmates, Arnold gets roped into a lucrative cheating scheme and is forced to reckon with the morality of his actions.
Set against the backdrop of the “Bad Student” movement, which called for reforms against arbitrary dress standards, rote learning methods, and gender inequality in schools, Sorayos Prapapan’s film looks at the education system in Thailand as a microcosm of wider authoritarian structures. Weaving together actual footage of school canings and scenes where students rally for an end to traditionalist hierarchies and draconian rules, the film speaks to a new generation’s fiery desire for change.
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