Kongdej, Wichanon, Sivaroj and Pramote pitch at Paris Project Screenings

Projects by Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, Wichanon Somumjarn, Sivaroj Kongsakul and Pramote Sangsorn were featured at the recent Paris Project Screenings at the Paris Cinema International Film Festival.

Kongdej had his latest project

P-047 in the post-production screening. Described as an "off-beat dramedy", Variety says it drew offers. An indie production from the director of such Thai-studio efforts as GTH's Handle Me With Care and Sahamongkol's Midnight My Love, P-047 is the story of a couple of guys who work at a shopping mall – a locksmith at a key-making booth and a clerk from the neighboring magazine stall – who hatch a plan to break into apartments and "borrow" things. Of course, this being a Kongdej film, there's more to it than that. Go read the synopsis at the movie website.

Wichanon, of Anocha Suwichakornpong's Electric Eel Films, previewed his debut feature Like Raining at the End of April (สิ้น เมษา ฝนตก มา ปรอย ปรอย). Described on the movie's Facebook page as a "very low-budget film", the story involves a guy named Nhum, who's a construction foreman working in Bangkok. Due to political instability, Nhum finds himself out of a job. He then decides to go back to his hometown in the northeast of Thailand to attend a high-school friend's wedding, which is taking place during the Thai New Year in April – the hottest time of the year. Anocha and Maenum Chagasik are the producers. You can see them in a behind-the-scenes video at YouTube.

Wichanon will show a one-minute clip of his movie with his short films, including the award-winning Four Boys, White Whisky and Grilled Mouse, on Saturday at SFW CentralWorld in Bangkok, as part of the Third Class Citizen: Spark With Electric Eels program.

And in the Paris Project Screenings roster from the 2011 Cannes Cinéfondation residency, there was Arunkarn, the sophomore feature from Eternity (Tee-Rak) director Sivaroj. According to Screen Daily (subscriber content only), Arunkarn attracted a co-production deal from Rotterdam Films in cooperation with Dutch distributor Contact Films.

“We’ve taken Benelux rights,” Rotterdam Films’ Dirk Rijneke is quoted as saying by Screen.

Arunkarn (or Arun Karn) was previously pitched at the Hong Kong Asian Film Financing Forum and is about "two soldiers whose last days are intertwined with their loved ones." There's a complete synopsis at the Pop Pictures website.

Also from the Cannes Cinéfondation residency was Pramote with his debut feature Tam Rasisalai, about the livelihoods of residents in the village in Si Sa Ket Province in the northeast of Thailand. The maker of many short films, including Tsu, which was shown in Venice, Pramote obtained a script-development award for Tam Rasisalai from the Asian Cinema Fund in 2009 and has also been supported by the Culture Ministry's Thai Khem Kang (Strong Thailand).

All the Cinéfondation classmates will get another chance to pitch their projects in the Open Doors section at next month's Locarno Film Festival.