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Motherland tells the story of Jen and his mother, Marlee, on their last night together before she leaves for Bangkok, Thailand. With limited time and an indefinite separation ahead of them, the two are prompted to find solace within a family torn apart.
Motherland is an undergraduate thesis film at the University of Texas at Austin under the Radio-Television-Film department. It is consistently ranked as one of the 10 best film programs in the nation. With such an outstanding program supporting us, we hope to create the best possible film with a beautiful, natural look and a touching story that our audience can relate to.
“At the beginning of the project, the script writing stages, I knew I wanted to make a film that was something that I could put my heart into. I didn't want to make a film that I knew nothing about, or try so hard to come up with a character that I didn't even understand. And so I was thinking about the time when I had dropped my mother off at the airport last summer. Similar to the events in the film, my own mother had to return home to Bangkok, Thailand, and I didn't know when would be the next time that I would see her.
I remember the feeling in that moment when she disappeared from my sight; that this separation would change me and my family's relationship with one another. I wanted to make a film about that exact moment.
I feel it's important to note that I was set on making a film in Thai. With so many changes in my life, I felt like it was the right time for me to make a film in my native language. My previous work has always been American, and so I felt that this was a good time to get back into my own Thai culture. In a larger sense, I wanted this film to represent the Asian community that has a very small voice in the U.S. and an even smaller one in Texas. I needed to portray these characters and this story, of what it was like to be a Thai family in the U.S, as honest as possible to my memories.”
- Dew Napattaloong (Writer/Director)
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DEW NAPATTALOONG (director/actor)
Originally from Bangkok, Thailand, Dew's strong passion for film translates in his work. In his final year as a student in the Radio-Television-Film department at the University of Texas, Dew has worked on numerous projects in Austin. He has worked as Director of Photography for over a dozen short films and as videographer for over 40 music videos for Austin's chapter of Sofar Sounds. He has also written and directed three short films: Heavy Hearts, All At Once, and Colors Of The Night. His most recent project was the ambitious music video with Austin's leading hip-hop group Magna Carda.
JEREMIAH DALMACIO (producer)
Jeremiah is a third-year student at the University of Texas working towards a degree in Radio-Television-Film and Business Foundations. He realized he wanted to become a producer after a year-long marketing internship with IMAX and YMC. He recently produced the short films, Killifish and Black & White, and was also the Unit Production Manager for The Pyramids. When he is not producing, he works as a media technician for UT and is involved with Delta Kappa Alpha, a cinema fraternity on the UT campus that he is a founding member of. His next work will be under the producing team of Erica Pallos’ sci-fi graduate thesis film set to shoot this summer of 2015.
JESSICA LUND (editor)
Jessica is a freelance video editor and recent graduate of the Radio-Television-Film department at the University of Texas. With a strong passion for both film and music, she has found a way to work both into her career by editing live music videos for the past 3 years. When working on regular films, she pulls inspiration from her editing idols: Thelma Schoonmaker and Francois Truffaut. Beyond editing, Jessica has also been involved in numerous film and music productions in Austin including Andrew Bujalski's Results, Richard Linklater's That's What I'm Talking About and running the Taco Cannon™ at FunFunFunFest 2014.
JONATHAN COX (director of photography)
While at The University of Texas, Jonathan was the Director of Photography for a handful of his own short films as well as the feature film
Princess in Another Castle and short films
Toy Rockets, and
Carne Seca, which premiered at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival here in Austin, TX. As an aspiring professional cinematographer, he continues to do a lot of work on graduate student films as a 1st and 2nd Assistant Cameraman. Notably he was a 2nd AC on Steve Mims’,
Arlo and Julie, which premiered at SXSW in 2014. For his next project, he will be the 2nd AC on Micah Barber's,
Into The Who Knows.
Almost 90% of our crew is made up of college students, so we definitely understand the financial struggle. If you are unable to make a monetary donation, but still wish to support our project, there are other ways you can help!
Whether it be by word of mouth or through social media, sharing our IndieGogo campaign or Official FB page would mean so much to us!
Like we said in our campaign video, a lot of people put a lot of hard work into this film so we’d love for people all over the world to have a chance to see it!
