Chheangkea | ចៅសំណព្វចិត្ត (Chao Somnop Chet) (Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites) / 2025

grandma gives her gay grandson a reason to celebrate

by Douglas Messerli

 

Chheangkea (screenwriter and director) ចៅសំណព្វចិត្ត (Chao Somnop Chet) (Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites) / 2025 [19 minutes]

 

The dead Grandma Nai (Saroeun Nay) is not at all looking forward to her family’s arrival at her tomb during their Qingming (the Cambodian Tomb Sweeping Day) visit. As she tells her dead neighbor, her daughter cares only about herself, and is seen when she arrives only interested in capturing pictures, while the family men go about with the actual sweeping and cooking of the festival pig. Children go running about the grave, a fire is lit, and huge luncheon is consumed.

    The only one that Nai seems interested in is her 29-year-old grandson Meng (Bonrotanak Rith), one of the few grandchildren who have actually taken the time off from their lives to participate in the Qingming event.

    Meng, a handsome young man, is mostly treated by the rest of the family, particularly the women, as a kind of pariah since he is not married yet. “You’re 29 now. About time you get married. Think you’ll be handsome forever?” his mother almost shouts out. When he reminds them that he is still young, his aunt proclaims “I had five kids by the time I was 29!”

     The family has plans for him, already hooking him up with a young available woman, Pech (Sokun Theary Ty), with whose family they plan to join in a hopeful nudge toward marriage latter in the day. Pech has already sent Meng a new watch, and the mother argues that we must have a present for the girl as well, suggesting the gold bracelet, his grandmother’s, that he is now wearing. Besides, she argues, it’s far too feminine for a boy.

      A bit like the dead mother who returns home with her daughter after a visit to the cemetery in Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver (2007), Grandma Nai and her neighbor (who must sweep off her own tomb, since her family no longer visits) escape from their tombs and join Nai’s daughter and grandson in the trunk of the car as the family heads off to the evening event with Pech and her family.

      In the neon-lit and mirrored restaurant where the meet-up is celebrated, the two ghosts sit watching the dinner goings-on of Nai’s family, noting in particular Meng’s discomfort at Pech’s constant attempts to keep his attention. She often places her hand across his chest or upon his knee which he quickly removes. And she points to the fact that they now have matching watches, reminding him that he has promised to give her his treasured Grandmother’s bracelet.

     Finally, as they escape into the karaoke room, Pech’s brother Viseth (Ponleu Chab) arrives and is joyfully greeted by his sister. The good-looking boy immediately draws Meng’s attention. As critic Abdul Latif observes about the families’ gathering in Film Fest Report:

 

 “Nothing much happens between the two families except for some karaoke fun. Meng seems tense, stiff, and visibly uncomfortable but still has to carry out his mission to get closer to Pech. However, it isn’t until Pech’s tall and handsome brother, Viseth…approaches them that things take a turn. The two boys make clear eye contact, and Meng appears more comfortable than we’ve seen before. When Grandma Nai sees his expression, it’s time for her to take the stage and flip the situation.”

  

     Even Viseth clearly has realized the score. As the families rise to leave the two young would-be lovers alone, Viseth whispers to Meng that Pech is his baby sister, begging Meng to do what is right.

     While Pech, for her Karoke song, sings a traditional song about a young beau not paying enough attention to his lover—surely an expression of her own sad condition—Grandmother Nai suddenly switches on another song, a kind of pop rock piece that her grandson performs before he actually moves into a somewhat “twist-and-shout”-like dance, all of which is obviously too much for the far more restrained and conservative Pech. We quickly see Meng returning her watch, as Pech relinquishes the gold bracelet before quickly exciting the scene.

     In the now empty room, Grandma Nai gladly joins in the dance with her clearly gay grandson. Everything is now open for Nai to find his true love, perhaps even Pech’s brother.

     Of the 14 short films I watched in the 2025 New York FilmFest, this short work by Cambodian director Chheangkea was most certainly one of my favorites.

 

Los Angeles, October 11, 2025

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (October 2025).