Kiss My Snake
The Documentary

Synopsis

This is the story of a little village in Thailand with a very dangerous tradition. In this strange little village, the world’s most dangerous serpent, the King Cobra, has become both a pet and a business partner of a deadly cottage industry. The entire village—from elders to children—works as one and performs relentlessly at their temple to attract tourists and herb buyers. The main attraction is the boxing matches, man versus snake, one on one! Bites are commonplace, but unbelievably the village has no anti-serum to combat the deadly toxins and the nearest hospital is over an hour away by car. Tom Tavee, the filmmaker, was able to obtain incredible access into the lives of the fighters and has succeeded in accurately and dramatically documenting this dangerous performance-sport of snake-boxing, the art of theatrically antagonizing the largest venomous snakes in the world. Some of the boxers have been bitten dozens of times, but despite losing fingers and friends, the boxers love their snakes and their perilous profession.

Read Director's Statement

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The Snake Boxers

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The Filmmakers

Tom Tavee, Co-producer/Director Tom Tavee is a NYC based photographer whose work has appeared in Time, Rolling Stone, Interview and other leading magazines. Two principal reasons motivated him to make "Kiss My Snake," his heritage and his lifelong fear of snakes. As an American-born Thai, Tom had always been intrigued by things that were quintessentially Thai, such as Thai boxing. Eventually discovered Ban-Kok Sa Gna, a tiny village in northeast Thailand which doesn't appear on most tourist itineraries, he decided to make a film about it. He currently divides his time between NYC and Bangkok.

Dan Nuxoll, Co-producer/Composer Dan Nuxoll is an incurable movie junkie capable of sitting through more than 2,000 films a year. He composes music for film and television, including the documentary feature Kiss My Snake, and he has been the Program Director for Rooftop Films since 2001. He has helped transform the Rooftop Summer Series into one of the largest and most popular outdoor film festivals in the world. return to menu