THE LONG WALK

The Long Walk is Laotian director Mattie Do’s third feature, and centres around an old man, who discovers that he can travel back in time and speak with the dead. The film stars Yannawoutthi Chanthalungsy, Noutnapha Soydara, Vilouna Phetmany, Chansamone Inoudom and Por Silatsa.

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Do not take your eyes off the screen for a second.m The Long Walk has an enigmatic script that obliterates genre norms. When a colleague and trusted friend Steve Kopian, at Unseen Films, told me that I had to make sure to watch without distraction, he was not exaggerating. Blink, and you might miss pertinent information. Part sci-fi and a lot of ambient horror, The Long Walk is unlike anything you’ve seen before. Spirits and time manipulation are the tips of the iceberg.

Performances are mesmerizing. As the plot evolves, each actor runs the emotional gambit. The lush Laos countryside becomes a haunting backdrop for a story you won’t see coming. The trickiest part about writing a review is not wanting to spoil the experience for the audience. There are rare occasions where going into a film blind is in your best interest. The Long Walk is one of those films. This film will take your breath away as you move from fear to heartbreak, confusion to awe. The Long Walk is one of the year’s most intriguing films. It bears repeating, do not look away. 

The Entrancing Time-Travel Ghost Story — Out Now In Select Theaters + On VOD March 1

The first Lao film to screen theatrically in the US, from Laos’ first and only women director:

ABOUT MATTIE DO:

Mattie Do is Laos’ first, and only, female filmmaker. Born in California to recent refugees of Laos’ Communist Revolution, Mattie was raised in Los Angeles, but returned to Laos a decade ago after her father retired in Vientiane.

In 2012, Mattie directed her first feature film, Chanthaly. The film was the ninth feature film produced in the country of Laos since the 1975 revolution, the first feature film to feature a female protagonist, and the first Lao feature film to be directed by a woman. Chanthaly also challenged Laos’ strict censorship which at the time mandated that Lao women only be depicted in traditional dress speaking formal Lao, and restricted any depiction of supernatural or superstitious beliefs. The film premiered at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas becoming the first Lao film to screen outside of SE Asia. Chanthaly’s success at festivals led to Mattie’s selection for the Cannes’ Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde, TIFF’s Directors Talent Lab, Berlinale Talents, and BIFAN’s Fantastic Film School. Afterward, Mattie worked with the Ministry of Culture to create the infrastructure necessary to introduce foreign co-production to Laos, including a framework for managing the country’s rigid censorship. In 2015, Mattie produced Laos’ first American and Japanese co-productions, which later respectively premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and Locarno Film Festival.

Mattie Do’s second feature, Dearest Sister, premiered at Fantastic Fest before screening at BFI’s London Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival and nearly two dozen other film festivals. The film received Special Jury Mentions at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Lund’s Fantastisk Filmfestival, and Fantasporto Film Festival. The film was later selected as Laos first official submission to the 90th Academy Awards.