WFFBKK '09: Tsai Ming-liang awarded

Director Tsai Ming-liang is the recipient of this year's Lotus Award for cinematic achievement from the World Film Festival of Bangkok. He was handed the award by Culture Minister Teera Slukpetch in the opening-night ceremony on Friday.

Tsai made his remarks, which were translated by festival director Victor Silakong. Minister Teera also made some remarks. But I couldn't hear anything, because, unbelievably, there exists a public address system in Thailand that is not loud enough.

The Malaysian-born Taiwanese director and his frequent star actor Lee Kang-sheng have been around the festival for screenings of Tsai's latest, Face, which was filmed in Paris' Louvre museum. It had its second and final screening at 1 this afternoon.

Tsai Ming-liang and his works have been favorites of the WFFBKK. His Wayward Cloud was the closing film in 2005. His next feature, 2006’s I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, screened at the 4th World Film Festival of Bangkok. His short film It’s a Dream was shown at the festival in 2007, as part of the 33-segment anthology To Each His Own Cinema, which was commissioned for the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival.

As a Lotus Award recipient, Tsai joins Indian director Shyam Benegal, Thai directors Euthana Mukdasanit and Dokdin Kanyamarn and the jailed Roman Polanski (the authorities missed him when he was in Thailand in 2005).