By: Valerie Milano
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 12/22/2024 – In life, everyone encounters difficult times, emotionally or financially, and how they respond to the challenge says a lot about our character, and about our relationship with those around us.
This certainly takes center stage in “Auganic,” a brilliant short film with a quirky twist. Nick and Kai, a gay couple, are financially struggling when one night they discover an unusual phenomenon that ultimately tests the boundaries of their relationship, bringing them closer than ever.
The phenomenon definitely is unusual – Kai has an orgasm while making love to Nick and the ejaculate is pure gold – not golden in color, but real gold, like the miners found in the California Gold rush of 1849.
But while the premise might seem weird, the story is strangely beautiful as these two men make their way through the thought process to a conclusion that many couples with a real connection would make.
Director Krit Komkrichwarakool visited with The Hollywood Times recently to talk about “Auganic” ahead of its L.A. premiere, and he said the story came from a weird dream he had during the COVID pandemic, when everyone was stuck in some way when it came to earning an income. He said he had to take work outside the film industry as the pandemic basically shut down production.
Click below for our exclusive interview:
“That whole experience inspired me to write about an artist going through this financial hardship and he had to choose between his artistic integrity and what he had to do to earn income,” Komkrichwarakool said. “This strange phenomenon just happened to be one of the things I dreamt about – I have some weird dreams.”
Komkrichwarakool said he keeps a “dream journal” that he writes down his dreams, and this was one of those dreams, the gold being the embodiment of the financial gain. So, he took his original idea of the artist and filtered in the golden semen element.
“I combined the ideas through the lens of two gay men, which is very dear to my heart”, said the award-winning Thai Canadian director/writer based in Vancouver.
On the surface, this film is about strange phenomena, but a deeper look shows that it’s a love story about two people making a choice at a time when the lure of financial gain might be overwhelming to a couple’s deeper relationship.
Komkrichwarakool said casting his film presented a bit of a challenge, particularly when it came to the part of Kai, which is played by Matt Dejanovic. The director had worked with Kenny Brain, who plays Nick, and said he felt he was a perfect choice.
“I knew his work, I knew his range, and I knew what he could give to this film,” Komkrichwarakool said, but the other half of the couple – the one who produces the gold” – was tricky.
“That one was challenging, and we went through a few months of casting before we stumbled upon Matthew.”
Dejanovic originally had auditioned for the part of Nick, but after Brain secured the role of Nick, a second look at Dejanovic’s audition tape, Komkrichwarakool said he and producer King Louie Palomo felt he really fit into the pother lead role, and he was cast as Kai.
“We did a chemistry test between him and Kenny, which was very important for this file, because they have to live as a married couple on screen, and once we saw them together, we knew these were our guys.”
Komkrichwarakool’s previous credits include “Platonic,” which premiered at the Inside Out Film Festival, and “Freefall,” for which he won the “Best Director” honor at Moscow Shorts. Palomo is a Queer Filipino Canadian producer and director who has produced short films that have been screened at international festivals like Hollyshorts and the Palm Springs International Film festival’s Shortfest.
One of the highlights of the film is the beautiful cinematography created by award winning Canadian cinematographer Joseph Schweers whose narrative and documentary work has been screened at TIFF, Tribeca and VIFF amongst many more.
“Auganic” has qualified for consideration for the 2025 Academy® Awards.
