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Modernization and traditional living collide to strong political effect in Mattie Do’s third feature film The Long Walk. Its first few images see both an unidentified flying ship traveling at warp speed and a rusted-up scooter. We see dirt roads and vegetables being sold in plastic bags in a farmer’s market but currency is now paid through a digital microchip in your wrist. “Oh you’re using an old government chip,” the tender tells The Old Man (Yannawoutthi Chanthalangsy). It seems it’s already out-of-date. Things move fast in The Long Walk while others stay relatively the same.

If there is an initial hindrance in the film’s engrossing structure, it’s that it’s hard to tell what parts are past and what parts are present. But as it progresses we realize this is precisely the point. The Old Man, unnamed and unknown, is a hermit living...

The US-born Laotian filmmaker Mattie Do is back on the festival circuit with her third feature “The Long Walk”. This arthouse-genre hybrid premiered at Venice Days sidebar of the 76th Venice International Film Festival before its North American premiere at Toronto and, having in mind Do’s reputation for “Chantaly” (2012) and “Dearest Sister” (2016), it will travel beyond that both regarding the “regular” film festivals (especially those “late night” sections) and more specific genre-oriented ones.

This acclaimed Lao drama/sci-fi/mystery will be out on VOD March 1, 2022 following a limited US theatrical run that kicks off on February 18 from Yellow Veil Pictures.

As with her previous movies, it is a ghost story of sorts that follows some genre conventions while also examining the (contemporary) Laotian society. The plot is realized through two timelines separated by 50 years. It opens in the near future with an old man (Yannawoutthi Chanthalungs) living in the rural area,...

An unusual partnership between Kazakhstan and Japan is behind the film “The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time” and it is not just a co-production. The film is in fact co-directed by Kazakh filmmaker Yerlan Nurmukhambetov and Japanese Lisa Takeba – who allegedly met at a party in Cannes – and stars among others, Kazakh film actress Samal Yeslyamova, winner of best actress at Cannes for “Ayka” in 2018, and Japanese actor Mirai Moriyama. The film had its premiere at Busan International Film Festival on the 3rd of October and it is being screened in cinemas around Japan as I write. The odd English title may sound a bit arcane, while the Japanese one – which translates “Olzhas’ White Horse” – goes straight to the point; however, the simple explanation is that “Roads of Time” is the series of paintings by Kazakh artist Gali Myrzashev which are shown during the end credits.

“The Horse Thieves. Roads...

Screen International calls The Long Walk “metaphysical mind-melting horror” and Slash Film calls “emotional, raw-to-the-bone filmmaking”

Check out the trailer:

An old scavenger living on the fringes of a near-future society exploits a ghostly companion’s ability to traverse time, hoping to prevent his mother’s suffering from a terminal illness.

The Long Walk world premiered to great acclaim at the Venice Film Festival in the Giornate degli Autori section and was followed by praise out of the Toronto International Film Festival. It’s the third feature of Lao based director Mattie Do, whose career has been recognized by the Oldenburg International Film Festival and Locarno International Film Festival for her breakthrough work as Lao’s first and only woman filmmaker, and the only filmmaker of the country to work in the horror and fantastic genres.

A deliberately paced story that burns with intensity and human emotion, The Long Walk...

"That old man said... you died fifty years ago." Yellow Veil Pictures has released an official trailer for The Long Walk, a slow born indie sci-fi horror film from the country of Laos (see Google Maps). This initially premiered at the 2019 Venice Film Festival playing in the "Venice Days" sidebar, and it also played at TIFF and Fantastic Fest and the Sitges Film Festival a few years ago. Made by a Laotian filmmaker named Mattie Do, this film has earned some rave reviews. She is the first and only woman filmmaker from Laos, and the only filmmaker of the country to work in the horror and fantastic genres. An old Laotian hermit discovers the ghost of a road accident victim can transport him back in time 50 years to the moment of his mother's painful death. Starring Yannawoutthi Chanthalungsy, Vilouna Phetmany, Por Silatsa, Noutnapha Soydara, Chanthamone Inoudome, and Vithaya Sombath. This is a very cool film,...

The Us-born Laotian filmmaker Mattie Do is back on the festival circuit with her third feature “The Long Walk”. This arthouse-genre hybrid premiered at Venice Days sidebar of 76th Venice International Film Festival before its North American premiere at Toronto and, having in mind Do’s reputation for “Chantaly” (2012) and “Dearest Sister” (2016), it will travel beyond that both regarding the “regular” film festivals (especially those “late night” sections) and more specific genre-oriented ones.

“The Long Walk” is screening at

Venice International Film Festival 2019

for the Giornate degli Autori

As her previous movies, it is a ghost story of sorts that follows some genre conventions while also examining the (contemporary) Laotian society. The plot is realized through two timelines separated by 50 years. It opens in the near future with an old man (Yannawoutthi Chanthalungs) living in the rural area, scavenging motorcycle parts for money. There is something sinister about his lonely existence,...

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past,” says William Faulkner. It’s an idea that gets a vigorous workout in Laotian director Mattie Do’s third feature, “The Long Walk.” The followup to her acclaimed 2016 horror entry “Dearest Sister” finds Laos’ first and only female film director taking a risky leap forward to tell the story of a middle-aged Laotian farmer living a life of regret following the death of his mother and the ghost who can help him set things right. That’s the most efficacious way to boil down this

If Do’s ambition sometimes gets ahead of her ability to tell the story in clean, straightforward lines, it’s a small price to pay to be whisked away to a country still mysterious to Western audiences by a director using local concerns to address collective truths about guilt and redemption. A rare film from...