Queer East Festival 2024
17 — 28 April
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It’s All Because of a Katoey
Thailand, 1954

Focus Thailand, Short Form,
Directed by
Ledger Group
Running time
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 preLGBTQ term referring to a transwoman or an effeminate gay man.
Screening in conjunction with Beautiful Boxer.


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.



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