The Red Envelope. Open-air cinema and talk

Before the screenings, we invite you to thematic spotlights to get you in the mood – with prominent guests!Great trepidation and guesswork accompany the release of every expensive film production: Whether the audience will get involved with the story told, star constellation and film language and flock to the cinema en masse?

Box Office Around The World is a film festival that wants to get to the bottom of this mystery from the audience’s point of view. Unlike Hollywood productions that are designed for the global market, box office hits from other regions of the world often allow surprising insights into what moves people in Ho Chi Minh City, Rio or Bangkok.The Schlüter Courtyard is located in the heart of Berlin – and surrounded by collections from many cultures around the world.Over two weekends in August, the Box Office Around The World festival presents six current cinema productions that are audience successes and box office hits in their countries of origin, but have not yet been seen on the big screen in Germany.Together with representatives of the Berlin communities from Thailand, Argentina, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil and India and the curator Dorothee Wenner, the films were selected and an accompanying programme developed. Before the open-air screenings, a thematic spotlight – with a star-studded line-up – will be directed at each film.


Curator Film Programme

Dorothee Wenner is a freelance filmmaker, curator and writer based in Berlin. 
Since 1990 has been working for Berlin International Filmfestival in various positions, currently as as the delegate for the festival for the Subsahara African region. In 2009, she joined the team of the Dubai International Film Festival as programmer for films from India/Africa/Germany until the festival’s closure. She has been member of the board and jury of the Lagos based African Movie Academy Awards since inception 2005. Her latest work as filmmaker is the webseries Kinshasa Collection. Since 2020 she has been working as a consultant for film/cinema for the Humboldt Forum.

Together with representatives of the communities, she curated the Box Office Around The World festival 2025 for the third time.

The Red Envelope. Chayanop Boonprakob / Thailand 2025 / 127 Min. / comedy / Thai with English subtitles

Nightmares plague Titi’s grandmother after the death of her beloved grandson. She seeks the advice of a shaman, who attributes the unrest to Titi’s failed marriage to his lover Din. The shaman sees Titi’s homosexuality as unproblematic, but a new husband must be found the restless ghost quickly. This is done with the help of a red envelope, in which Grandma is to place a strain of hair and fingernails from the corpse. Whoever finds this envelope is destined by fate to marry Titi’s ghost. It is the hapless, heterosexual police informant Menn whom Grandma in synch with higher powers, push into the liaison—and thus kick off a fast-paced LGBTQ+ comedy. Was Titi’s death not an accident after all, but murder? The story of Menn and Titi’s rapprochement mixes up gender clichés with a keen sense of Thai humor, leaving room for corrupt police twists, traffic jams which are magically cleared, grandiose dance numbers, heartwarming dog scenes and much more.

The film is a remake of the Taiwanese blockbuster Marry My Dead Body (2022), skillfully and subtly translated to Bangkok with allusions to current scandals. The casting of the popular and outrageously good-looking duo Billkin (Putthipong Assaratanakul) and PP Krit (Krit Amnuaydechkorn) also contributed to the film’s success at the Thai box office—no expense was spared to make it a hit.

Programme

- 8 pm: Talk with Popo Fan (film curator, filmmaker and LGBTIQ+ activist), Mangkorn „Nick“ Wongnongtoey (social educator, Berlin) and Dorothee Wenner (moderator) in German

9 pm: Film screening

Participants

As a filmmaker, Popo Fan has made a notable impact on Chinese society through his queer documentary films since 2009. In 2017, he relocated from Beijing to Berlin, where he shifted his focus to writing and directing scripted films. His work delves into intersectional themes such as migration and gender, often incorporating genre elements like comedy and thriller.

After releasing several short films in Germany, Popo is currently developing his debut narrative feature. He was selected for Berlinale Talents in 2017 and served on the jury for the Teddy Award at the Berlinale in 2019. In 2023, he received the PorYes Feminist Porn Award in Berlin.

Popo remains active in queer advocacy in China, where he continues to serve as a trainer for the Queer University Video Camp and has helped organize the Beijing Queer Film Festival for nearly two decades. In addition, he writes regular columns for several Chinese media platforms and occasionally performs stand-up comedy. He loves cooking and singing—and sometimes coincidentally combines the two in his “Kitchen Karaoke” videos, which can be found on Instagram.

- 10 EUR, reduced 5 EUR
- FSK 18
- Ground Floor, Schlüter Courtyard: Entrance: Portal 5
- Thai with English subtitles
- Belongs to: Box Office Around The World 2025