TSUNAMI SURVIVOR STORIES

Movie mini-series to be made about the Thailand Tsunami

We knew it would come one day. It was just a matter of when. And whom.

BBC is set to produce a miniseries to focus on the Thailand story of the Tsunami. Codename "Aftermath" will focus on the area of Khao Lak.

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Every other disaster eventually gets a story told through reality television. Why not this?

More to come as the movie gets closer!

Rick

Tsunami miniseries sets off debate
Controversy swirls around the timing of ‘Aftermath’
The Associated Press

Updated: 2:29 p.m. PT June 29, 2006
KHAO LAK, Thailand - Initially, Boonlue Mongkhol objected to his village being used for a TV miniseries about the 2004 tsunami. He lost his loved ones in the disaster and didn't want to relive the tragedy.

But when the British Broadcasting Corp. advertised for extras, the 38-year-old businessman put aside his personal feelings and spent five days portraying a corpse and a body collector _ earning $13 a day.

"My father, niece and nephew died there," said Boonlue, who also lost his house, seafood restaurant and mini market when the massive waves hit Khao Lak on Dec. 26, 2004. "I didn't want to do it but there is no other way to earn money."

The filming of "Aftermath" _ a two-part miniseries produced by the BBC and HBO, shot along Thailand's tsunami-battered coast _ has set off a debate over the merits of bringing the tragedy to the screen so soon after the disaster.

Supporters say it's an important story, touching on universal themes of hope and loss, while many survivors say reviving the tsunami has hit them with more heartache.

Similar debates among survivors have played out in the United States with "United 93," the first big-screen treatment of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and in Australia when there was talk of making a movie about the 2002 Bali bombings, the victims of which were mainly Australians.

"You are exacerbating the healing process," said Anie Kalayjian, whose non-governmental Association for Trauma Outreach and Prevention has provided counseling to survivors of the tsunami and last year's Pakistan earthquake.

"On some level, they need to distance themselves from the devastating impact of the event to heal," she said. "Post-trauma means the trauma has to end and you need a certain distance before you can process your feelings and make meaning and sense out of the unimaginable."

Billed as a compelling story of survival and courage, the two-part series to be shown on HBO and BBC Two later this year follows eight characters in the aftermath of the tsunami including a young couple searching for their child, an Englishwoman whose husband and son are missing, and a Thai man who lost his family and village.

The drama is being directed by Bharat Nalluri and the cast includes Tim Roth, Sophie Okonedo and Toni Collette.

Khao Lak, with its white-sand beaches and stunning views of the Andaman Sea, was chosen as the location because a majority of the 5,400 people killed in Thailand came from surrounding villages on the country's southwestern coast, as did the thousands more left homeless.

Though many of the hotels and hundreds of homes have been rebuilt, jobs remain scarce and many families are still grieving for dead relatives.

"I don't want a movie shot here," said Wandee Sae-hong, a 32-year-old survivor from the nearby village of Baan Nam Kem, which lost about half its 5,000 residents in the tsunami. "I don't want to see the disaster again. It will bring too much sadness."


A need for jobs
Other Thais welcomed the production, saying it could bring jobs to the area and serve as an educational tool.

"It's good because the next generation can see what happened," said Renu Suiraksa, a Khao Lak woman who lost her brother and 10 cousins in the disaster. "Before, I didn't know anything about a tsunami. But if we have this movie, people will be able to see what happens and maybe have time to run away the next time."

Thai survivors and relief workers say they were most angered that the crew chose to re-enact the disaster _complete with dead bodies and overturned cars_ on the main road through Khao Lak that was devastated by the giant waves.

Others were upset the crew chose to put up flyers throughout the tsunami-hit region, saying victims were needed as extras.

"It was pretty tasteless. People are not happy," said Robert Reynolds, an American charity director whose Srithong Thukaoluan Foundation is supporting more than 100 children affected by the tsunami.

Finola Dwyer, the drama's producer, said she regretted the wording in the flyer. But she defended the decision to shoot in areas hit by the tsunami.

"Why not? It did happen. It's not a piece of fiction," Dwyer said.

Dwyer said she faced similar challenges shooting the acclaimed drama "The Hamburg Cell" which came out in 2004 and delves into lives of the Sept. 11 hijackers as it recounts the meticulous preparations for the attacks.

For that production, her team chose to shoot in Hamburg, Germany, where hijackers hatched their plans _ despite the fact that residents were "feeling bruised and raw from harboring these guys."

"`The Hamburg Cell' was a real challenge," Dwyer said. "It was balancing and working and navigating through all those different sensitivities and not wanting to cause offense but still wanting to make something truthful and real and reflective of the situation."

In Thailand, Dwyer said they sought and received government approval before shooting started because of the nature of the project. But even as they shot around the resort town of Phuket and Khao Lak, she said they were embraced by locals and even some survivors came to watch.

"When we were in Khao Lak, we had people come by and tell us their stories of how they were caught up in the tsunami," Dwyer said.

"Everybody acts differently. Of course, some people will get upset," she said. "But many of the survivors we met said `We are really glad you are doing this because people have already forgotten.'"

posted by Rick Von Feldt @ 2:57 PM