Thai indie filmmaking collective Extra Virgin is behind the local release of Aditya Assarat's Wonderful Town, making the acclaimed romantic drama the first title in the Director's Screen series, which will run exclusively at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld in Bangkok.
Wonderful Town opens on May 15, followed by the commercial premiere of Pimpaka Towira's documentary, The Truth Be Told: The Cases Against Supinya Klangnarong, on May 29.
By now, Wonderful Town should need no introduction here. Winner of several awards, the film has been playing at dozens of film festivals worldwide since its premiere last year at the Pusan International Film Festival.
The politically charged Truth Be Told, covering the lawsuits brought against media activist Supinya Klangnarong by the Shin Corp., premiered in Thailand last year at the inaugural Digital Forum. It has since gone on to screen at Rotterdam, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival in Greece, Singapore and at Hot Docs in Toronto. It will be interesting to see what kind of reception it receives in Bangkok under the new administration -- political films tend to make the powers-that-be uneasy, no matter who is in power. But now, well, it's hard to understand just what is going in Thai politics right now. Things could change by the time the film starts its run at the end of the month.
Each film in the Director's Screen series will run for four weeks, with nightly showtimes fixed at 7.30. Extra Virgin plans special activities for the screenings, with chances for audiences to meet with the cast and crew of the films. More films are planned for later in the year.
See also:
CJ Hinke, Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT)
ReplyDeleteAs I cannot comment on your lese majeste post, I shall do so here--Truth Be Told.
I am not a monarchist but I have deep admiration and fondness for Nai Luang. It is not mutually exclusive to love Nai Luang and think lese majeste law is a tool of repressive power brokers; it is convenient for them to look loyally Royal.
It is deeply disturbing that you have chosen to close this issue on your blog. If you fear government, they win. We, as foreigners living here permanently and who have deep love for this place and people, have every right to comment on vital issues affecting all of us.
Don't let the rest of us stand (sit!) alone!
More of my comments on lese majeste here:
http://facthai.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/thai-means-free-cj-hinke-fact-coordinator/