Healing All Beings through Devoted Companionship: "Gohan" Interprets the Tender Power of Life

On June 19, highly acclaimed Thai film Gohan screened in the ASIA NOW-ASIAN COLLECTION section of the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF). Director Nattawut Poonpiriya appeared at the post-screening event alongside leads Tu Tontawan Tantivejakul and Jaonaay Jinjett Wattanasin, unpacking the creative journey behind this heartwarming feature.

Crafted by the award-winning crew behind Thai blockbusters Bad Genius and How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, the film centers on a tiny white stray dog. Over a decade, it crosses paths with a retired engineer Hiro, a drifting factory worker Namcha, and art students Pele and Jaidee, earning three names along the way: Gohan (Rice), Brownie and Hima. The pup savors fleeting joy and endures untold hardships alike, yet it meets the world with untainted affection, its selfless companionship soothing every soul trapped in life’s hardships.

Nattawut Poonpiriya first took the global film industry by storm with Bad Genius. For this project, he partnered with two other celebrated Thai directors for collaborative creation. As Nattawut explained, each helmed one chapter pairing the dog with a different human protagonist. Rooted in a cohesive core storyline, their distinct directing voices lend the film layered, varied narrative textures, rendering the three standalone emotional arcs fully realized while echoing one another in harmony.

Notably, the stray dog in the film is inspired by a stray rescued by the director himself. To maintain visual consistency of the character, the crew carefully cast multiple dogs with nearly identical appearances to portray the puppy across its infancy, adulthood and other life stages.

The two leads shared the one-of-a-kind experience of acting alongside animal co-stars. Tontawan Tantivejakul, the female lead, admitted this marked her first time performing with animals. She invested extensive time observing and decoding the dog’s behavioral cues, taking slow steps to form a close connection with the dogs. While her character looked after the dog alongside the male protagonist, Tontawan witnessed the gradual inner transformation of her role, and felt genuine joy seeing the stray escape its lonely wandering days, embraced by constant kindness.

Jinjett Wattanasin vividly portrayed how his character grows emotionally. Through caring for the dog, he learns the true meaning of selfless giving. He evolves from cold and withdrawn to capable of loving others, his tightly wound, repressed heart softening little by little, ultimately reconciling with himself and the world. At its core, this journey brings healing to both the human and the dog.

The warm behind-the-scenes stories shared by the creative team livened up the venue. Many audience members eagerly raised their hands. Apart from expressing their fondness for the film, quite a few wondered how the crew got the dog to deliver such genuine, delicate emotional reactions.

Nattawut explained that the production followed an animal-first rule and never forced pre-planned actions on the dog. The crew waited patiently until the dog was relaxed and ready before rolling the cameras. The strong emotional impact audiences feel comes down to the editing team, who turned the dog’s natural, spontaneous moments into a touching story.

One Thai viewer had come especially for the screening. She chatted with the cast and crew in Thai, saying she teared up multiple times while watching. She was deeply touched by the pure, sincere bond between humans and the furry companion, and the movie brought her great emotional comfort.

This gentle story is a two-way healing journey between people and small animals, letting audiences feel the kindness and warmth of life through the screen. When asked what they wanted to say to the dog in the film, the team’s heartfelt words were both a tribute to the character and a salute to the resilience of all living things: “You did wonderfully. You’ve gone through so much hardship, yet you kept going all the way to this moment.”