Fak, a young Thai man leaves the monkhood to care for his ailing father. When he returns home, he finds his father has married a much younger woman. She is very beautiful, but she is also mentally unbalanced. Then the father dies.

Adapted from "Kham Phiphaksa" ("The Judgement"), a 1985 SeaWrite award-winning novel by Chat Kobjitti, "Ai-Fak" is the story about Fak, a young Thai man who leaves the monkhood to care for his ailing father. When he returns home, he finds his father has married a much younger woman. She is very beautiful, but she is also mentally unbalanced. Then the father dies, leaving Fak to care for his insane stepmother. Soon Fak's neighbors in this remote village are talking about him, saying he is sleeping with his stepmother. This rejection by the villagers sends Fak into a spiral of despair.—Wise Kwai