As a 9 year-old boy, Sitthiphon (“Ki”) Disamoe had been living on the streets of Bangkok for 2 years. As one of 7 siblings from a small village in the Lao-speaking region of Thailand, Ki’s father had died leaving him no choice but to live homeless on the streets begging and selling sweets to survive.
Ki went into a shop in Bangkok to ask for money to buy water. The woman working in the shop, Bua, was taken by Ki’s “extraordinary charisma, wit, toughness and humour”. Working as an extra in films, she took him in to care for him and to meet casting director, Raweeporn Jungmeier, who introduced him to Australian writer and director, Kim Mordaunt. Kim and producer, Sylvia Wilczynski, were casting their new film, THE ROCKET, and found their young leading man.
Writer/director Kim says, “As soon as we met Ki, we knew he had all the qualities of Ahlo. Ki’s life on the street has given him resilience, resourcefulness and a ‘go get’ attitude to never give up at whatever he tries.”
Kim’s background training at London’s LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) and experience as an actor enabled him to use techniques of ‘method acting’ to draw on Ki’s imagination and memories of his own abandonment, similar to those of his character Ahlo. Ki’s performance is powerful, emotive and totally uninhibited.
Ki truly met his match in young female lead Loungnam Kaosainam, then aged 8, who plays his friend Kia. She was discovered at a drama group in Vientiane, Laos, and as an actress, is mesmerising and amazingly soulful in the movie. All of the other Lao and Lao-speaking Thai actors are totally at ease on camera. Beautiful Alice Keohavong is Ahlo’s mother Mali, Sumrit Warin is Ahlo’s father Toma and his mother, Taitok, driven by the superstitions of Lao folklore is played by Bunsri Yindi. Based on a true character, actor Thep Phongam is wonderful as Kia’s eccentric uncle Purple.
THE ROCKET followed producer Sylvia and writer/director Kim’s award winning documentary, also set in Laos, called ‘Bomb Harvest’, about an Australian bomb disposal specialist and features Lao children who collect bombs to sell as scrap metal. The war-torn theme is ever present in THE ROCKET, although not the major storyline.
Watching THE ROCKET is a sobering and humbling yet uplifting experience. The Lao people have amazing courage whilst enduring the ruthless displacement brought upon them by ‘big business’ and dam building – in this case, their valley being flooded for an Australian-financed hydro scheme. Over 60 million people worldwide have been displaced by dams alone.
THE ROCKET has picked up an amazing 42 awards. It took out the audience award at the 2013 Sydney Film Festival following a standing ovation. It also won 3 awards at Robert De Nero’s 2013 Tribeca Film Festival in New York, including Best Narrative Feature and Best Actor Award for Ki. It took out 3 awards at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, including the prestigious Best Debut Feature of the festival and the Amnesty International Film Prize. At Sydney’s FCCA (Film Critics Circle of Australia) awards recently, it picked up Best Film, Best Music for Caitlin Yeo and another Best Young Actor Award for Ki.
Since January this year, Ki has been staying in Sydney’s Lao community with associate producer and translator, Pauline Phayvanh Phoumindr and her partner, musician Sam Sychampanakhone, as his home life in Thailand continued to be difficult and his education was suffering. He has returned to Thailand for a month while Pauline, Sam, Sylvia and Kim negotiate with immigration for Ki’s student visa and raise funds and endeavour to find a scholarship for Ki to attend school in Australia. Both private and government schools charge at least $11,000 per year for an international student.
THE ROCKET is a wonderful story based on true events and a boy’s journey through grief, guilt and self-doubt. I highly recommend seeing it. For Ki, it is the beginning of a new life.