Bangkok Int'l Film Fest - A look back

As the 2nd annual Bangkok International Film Festival draws to a close, I find myself looking back at the week of eventful film viewing.

Thanks to the new policy of selling tickets through a centralised ticketing agency (Ticketmaster), booking the tickets was a snap - as long as you had the schedule in hand.

As a journalist, I kind of beat myself up a bit that the paper I work for didn't do more to inform people about the movies ahead of time. Part of the reason for this was the deadline on the publication I edit was a lot sooner than any accurate information about what was playing could be verified.

Once I had the information at hand, I did inform anyone I knew in Bangkok who would interested in catching some films.

So I got most of my information on what films to watch from the Bangkok Post. It turned me on to Zatoichi and Carandiru.

Still, The Nation has done a good job with covering the festival as it happened. There's a decent look back at the week in today's paper.

In addition to Zatoichi and Carandiru, I also caught the Thai film Fake, the retrospective Marathon Man, a bad Algerian-Italian film, Letters in the Wind and Woody Harrelson's documentary, Go Further, which I really enjoyed.

Tomorrow, I wrap things up with a viewing of S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine.

These are all films I could easily see in the time that I have open outside of work.

I'm kicking myself for not seeing Osama. That was one I let slip through, even though I could have made time for it. Also, I would have made time to see Bertolucci's The Dreamers.

A few films didn't show up, including Lost in Translation, 21 Grams and Cold Mountain. These are high-profile movies that should be playing on general release though, and I wouldn't have bothered to see them in the festival had they been showing.

A negative aspect of the festival that continues to gall me is the inability of the organisers to monitor whether the complimentary VIP and press tickets are actually used.

At the showing of Zatoichi on Monday night, some friends were waiting to see if they could get in. But, since the computer said the auditorium was sold out, the young women running the show had no authority to let people in. Of course, many press and VIPs didn't show up and as a result there were at least a couple hundred seats not filled. Meanwhile, people that wanted to see the movie were left standing in the lobby.

I had a similar experience with trying to get tickets for Osama. It was sold out of course by the time I got around to getting the ticket. I suspect, there are some press seats, but I've never been one to use my press card. Plus it's a hassle to get the press seats, as the press center is in a hotel across town. Suffice to say it'd be a pain in the ass that I'm not willing to endure. I should have been awake and aware of Osama beforehand.

I just think the comp tickets should be held at the box offices until 30 minutes before showtime. If the holders don't show up, the tickets are sold. Simple. Some responsibility on the part of the press and the VIPs is in order.