'AFTERMATH' COMING TO DVD

Last summer, I spent several days "acting" as an extra on Tsunami:  The Aftermath, an HBO/BBC miniseries which dramatizes the days immediately following the 2004 tsunami which affected so many lives here.  There was a lot of local controversy surrounding the filming which was done at a number of locations here on Phuket as well as up in Khao Lak and, I believe, in Phang Nga and Krabi.

When the program aired in the States a couple of months ago, I heard from several friends and relatives that they spotted me in two scenes — both filmed at the airport.  In one, the setting was just a few hours after the disaster and we were looking at the flight cancellations on the big boards in the terminal.  I was in a small group with my neighbor, Franz, and a small Dutch boy who was sleeping on the floor.  The camera panned around us as Franz and I kept talking and pointing at the boards.  That was difficult — having an animated conversation (in silence as we weren't supposed to make any sounds) during take after take after take.  The second scene was easier to film; this one was set about five days after the tsunami when flights finally resumed.  Again, I was at the airport (the wounds from my first day of shooting having miraculously healed — I felt that I was my own private continuity error) — ticket in hand.  The camera did a long tracking shot through the check-in area of the airport, weaving through many survivors and reporters before finally turning towards me.  When the camera panned in my direction, I walked from the ticket counter and the camera followed me (and a number of other passengers coming from different directions) all the way to the entrance to the international departure gates.  That one required about 15 or 20 takes.

The movie wasn't (officially) shown here.  It had been scheduled to open in the theaters on December 26th (the second anniversary of the tsunami) but was cancelled amidst protests of inappropriateness.  I'd thought I'd be able to find bootleg or pirated copies of The Aftermath at the street stalls in Patong by now but that hasn't happened...

Finally, a 2-DVD set (with a couple of behind-the-scenes featurettes as bonus material) will be released on April 24.  No word on if there will be a version with Thai dubbing or subtitles but I think I'll go ahead and place a preorder through Amazon.com.