[UPDATED] THE LONG WALK: Metrograph NYC To Screen Acclaimed Director Mattie Do’s New Mystery Sci-Fi This Month
Originally posted on 2/3, this article was updated with new information on press screenings for The Long Walk, which were previously slated for 2/8.
Mattie Do has blazed quite the trail in the last decade and change. From her heyday as a ballet teacher to taking the mantle for her first barrier-breaking feature in 2012’s Laotian horror, Chanthaly, and following suit with Dearest Sister in 2016.
Invariably, Lao’s first female director is continuing to make the rounds with her third and latest film, The Long Walk, which has already garnered major festival attention and critical acclaim, in addition to winning Best Director 45th Boston-Science Fiction Film Festival. The award-winning sci-fi mystery is currently poised for another milestone with a select theatrical run in the U.S., and for folks living in New York City, now’s your chance to see it for yourself.
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, which is the first Lao film to screen theatrically in the US, 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 (Chanthaly, Dearest Sister), 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 is all at once a culturally rich ghost story, a grim near-future sci-fi, and mystery with life and death stakes that spans across decades.
Following press screenings on February 11, Yellow Veil Pictures has since already launched the official trailer marking the film’s debut release in the U.S. for select theaters. Alas, Metrograph NYC will be joining in on the rollout from February 18, and will also stream the film exclusively for Metrograph At Home members from February 18 through 25, with a digital and on-demand release to follow suit beginning March 1.
The Long Walk stars Yannawoutthi Chanthalungsy, Vilouna Phetmany, Por Silatsa, Noutnapha Soydara, Chanthamone Inoudome, and Vithaya Sombath. The film is directed by Do from a script by Christopher Larsen, and is produced by Do, Larsen, and Annick Mahnert. Justin Deimen and Abhi Rastogi served as executive producers.
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