Bangkok-based production company N8 and “Drag Race” producer World of Wonder have released the official trailer for “Heals,” a feature documentary on Thai drag star Pangina Heals, directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Pailin Wedel.
The film traces Pangina’s path from a Thai-Chinese childhood defined by generational expectations, family pressure and a socially conservative environment, to her emergence as a globally recognized drag performer. The documentary covers her tenure as host of “Drag Race Thailand,” her turn as a competitor on “RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs the World,” and a subsequent Las Vegas residency with “RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!”
Co-produced with Thailand’s Chamni’s Eye and White Light, and Taiwan’s Each Other Films, “Heals” represents N8’s debut as lead producer on a documentary feature. World of Wonder co-founders Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato serve as executive producers.
Wedel, a Thai-American director, previously helmed “Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice” (2018, Netflix) – which followed a Thai Buddhist-scientist family’s decision to cryopreserve their two-year-old daughter’s brain following her death – and “The Trapped 13: How We Survived the Thai Cave” (2022, Netflix). “Hope Frozen” became the first Thai film to claim an International Emmy and won Best International Feature at Hot Docs in Toronto, a result that rendered it eligible for Academy Award consideration. For “Heals,” Wedel incorporates exclusive footage shot across Pangina’s seven-country world tour alongside behind-the-scenes material from her time on “Drag Race.”
Rachel Y. Wu, the film’s producer and N8’s co-founder and COO, framed the project as central to the company’s mission. “N8 is committed to telling untold stories rooted in Thailand and the region,” she said. “Heals reflects our studio’s cross-cultural identity and our commitment to championing authentic narratives that speak to the social currents shaping Asia today.”
Wu said the World of Wonder partnership opened an uncommon opportunity to document how a Thai artist navigates the upper reaches of global entertainment. “The film examines intergenerational dynamics common in many Asian families, focusing on a mother–son relationship and the struggle for acceptance within a conservative Thai-Chinese household, while also highlighting Bangkok’s evolving LGBTQIA+ community,” she said.
N8 was founded by Kris Eiamsakulrat and Wu, operating out of Bangkok with additional offices in New York and Los Angeles. The company’s credits include the horror title “Home for Rent” (2023), co-produced with GDH 559, Oscar-shortlisted “The Monk and the Gun” (2023), Julie Pacino’s “I Live Here Now” (2025), Cannes Grand Prix winner and Thailand’s Academy Award submission “A Useful Ghost” (2025), and Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s “Morte Cucina” (2025). Four further projects, spanning horror, dark comedy and family drama, are currently in development for 2027 and beyond.
World of Wonder, whose output has accumulated 33 Emmy Awards and contributed to two Oscar campaigns, runs the streaming platform WOW Presents Plus across 190 territories. The service, which houses the full “Drag Race” catalogue, saw watch time climb 30% year-on-year in 2024 alongside a 47% jump in subscriber numbers. The company’s wider slate includes the “Million Dollar Listing” franchise, while its documentary arm WOW Docs has produced titles such as “Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures” and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”
The trailer was unveiled at Hong Kong FilMart.
Watch the trailer here:
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