Festival 2022
It’s All Because of a Katoey
Thailand, 1954
Focus ThailandShort Form
Directed by
Ledger Group
Ledger Group
Running time
12 min mins
12 min mins
A beautiful woman arrives at a gentlemen’s club, and the men start vying for her attention – but there’s a surprise in store. Made around 1954, this surprisingly progressive silent comedy is the oldest existing Thai film to feature a ‘katoey’, a pre–LGBTQ term referring to a transwoman or an effeminate gay man.
Screening in conjunction with Beautiful Boxer.
Tickets
Currently unavailable
![Queer East -](https://queereast.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Its_all_because_of_a_katoey_001.jpg)
Director Bio
Manop Silapee donated a copy of this film to the Thai Film Archive in 1993, along with other amateur movies. These films were made by Charlie Silapee, Manop’s uncle and a former employee of Monthon Bank. It’s All Because of a Katoey is credited to the Ledger Group, which is likely a group of amateur filmmakers who worked at the same bank. The Silapee family descends from a high-ranking palace artist who served at the court of King Rama VI.