Nakorn Sawan—which literally means “Heaven City” in Thai—is the name of a province north of Bangkok. It is the place where the Ping and Nan rivers merge to form Chao Phraya, the main river running through Bangkok. Believed by many Thais to be the gateway to heaven, it is the place where the characters in the film convene to send their loved one to the afterlife.

Conceived as a graduation film for her master’s degree at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg, Nakorn-Sawan is Aksornsawang’s first feature. Weaving together documentary footage of her mother and father—who separated when the director was a young teenager—and a fictionalized narrative performed by young actors, the film is a delicate meditation on love, loss and memory.