Festival, festival! Island in Rotterdam and Goteborg, General in Berlin, plus Motel and Executioner

One of the cleaner scenes I can use from Motel Mist.

Pimpaka Towira is on a victory lap of the festival circuit, following her Asian Future Award win at the Tokyo International Film Festival last year, with her latest feature The Island Funeral  (มหาสมุทรและสุสาน, Maha Samut Lae Susaan).

She’s joined the seasonal migration of Thai indie filmmakers, who each winter fly to such frigid northern cities as Rotterdam, Berlin and Goteborg, Sweden, where they are mated with funding, awards and critical acclaim. They then return to Thailand, where they further propagate the species.

In addition to the Bright Future section at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Pimpaka will show The Island Funeral in Goteborg, where it is in competition for the Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award. Like Tokyo’s Asian Future Award, the Bergman prize is for filmmakers making their first or second feature, and Island Funeral, which is Pimpaka’s second drama film and has been eight years in the making, definitely qualifies. The Goteborg fest runs until February 8.

Starring Actors’ Studio-trained Heen Sasithorn, The Island Funeral is a road movie, covering the journey of a young Bangkok woman and her friends into the heart of Thailand’s restive Deep South.

Pimpaka might also be on the road to the Berlin International Film Festival, where to prove she has enough love in her heart to spread around, she has Prelude to the General, a short that that is spun from one of her many spinning plates, a work-in-progress feature called The General’s Secret (Kam Lub Khong Nai Phol), which she offered at the Thai Pitch in Cannes in 2013.

Perhaps she’ll stop by the Berlinale Talents Campus, where she’s a 2005 alumnae, and run into a few young filmmakers who look up to her as a mentor, including Thai indie director Sorayos “Minimal” Prapapan and Korean-American director Josh Kim, who broke into the Thai film industry last year with his debut feature How to Win at Checkers (Every Time), which garnered much acclaim when it premiered in Berlin last year. The Berlin fest runs from February 11 to 21.

Back in Rotterdam, Thai producer-director Anocha Suwichakornpong has arrived after a flight delayed by a psychotic passenger and a dented aircraft door kept her on the ground overnight in Warsaw. She’s there to be part of the jury for the Hivos Tiger Awards, of which she’s a past winner, for “Mundane History” in 2010. Rotterdam has been most kind to Thai films in past years, with other winners being Aditya Assarat with Wonderful Town in 2008, Sivaroj Kongsakul with Eternity in 2011 and Jakrawal Nilthamrong's Vanishing Point last year.

Among the entries to gander at this year will be Motel Mist, the debut feature of Prabda Yoon. A SEA Write Award-winning novelist, Prabda is best known in the movie world as the screenwriter of Pen-ek Ratanruang’s trippy 2003 classic Last Life in the Universe. His Motel Mist appears to be another existential freak-out, luridly taking place in the rooms of the Motel Mistress, an alien-looking love motel in Bangkok.

“Motel Mist was a film born out of a mixture of inspiration and frustration, but it was completed with great trust and support from a group of talented and devoted lovers of the cinematic art,” Prabda says in a press release from Thai film distributor Mosquito Films. “The film is about ‘otherness’ and ‘dislocation’ but the experience of making it has ironically given me the sense of acceptance and belonging. It’s been a very delightful and meaningful exercise.”

And if that’s not enough wonderful Thai weirdness for Rotterdam festival-goers, they can feast eyes on Painting with History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 3, a short film by artist Korakrit Arunanondchai that blends denim, drones and body paint. A crocodile is in the mix as well.

There's another Thai film in Rotterdam as well, but I will refrain from naming it.

In other festival news, director Tom Waller is continuing to win awards with his 2014 feature The Last Executioner, a biopic of Thai prison guard and executioner Chavoret Jaruboon. At the Dhaka International Film Festival recently, Waller was awarded Best Director, while Executioner leading man Vithaya Pansringarm shared the Best Actor prize with Iraqi’s Mahmoud Abu Abbas, who won for Samt Al Rai (Silence of the Shepherd), a slow-burn thriller by Raad Moshatat.

The Last Executioner was notably snubbed for the Thai film industry’s Subhanahongsa Awards last year, but won screenplay and best picture in the Surasawadee Awards, the long-running movie honors that’s also known as the Tukata Tong or Golden Doll Awards.

There is much more to report on the festival scene. Please be patient while I slowly catch up.

(Cross-published in The Nation; print only)

Festival, festival! Forgotten masters in Vesoul

Rarely shown classic Thai films, some that were believed to be lost, will be shown in next month's International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in Vesoul, France.

Among those nearly-lost masterpieces in the festival’s "Forgotten Masters of Thai Cinema" is the so-called Citizen I (Thongpoon Khopko Rasadorn Temkan), MC Chatrichalerm Yukol’s 1977 drama about a poor taxi driver from Isaan struggling to retrieve his stolen cab from Bangkok thugs. It’s been compared to the Italian classic The Bicycle Thieves, and it spawned a sequel, Citizen II, which is more commonly in circulation, thanks to a home-video release in Thailand. The newly restored version of Citizen I will make its world premiere in Vesoul.

Programmed by Bastian Meiresonne, who was assisted in tracking down his titles by the Thai Film Archive and some studios, particularly Five Star Production, the "Forgotten Masters" range from 1940’s anti-war historical epic King of the White Elephant (พระเจ้าช้างเผือก, Prajao Changpeuk), produced by statesman Pridi Banonmyong, up to Wisit Sasanatieng’s 2000 homage to 1970s Thai action films, Tears of the Black Tiger (ฟ้าทะลายโจร, Fah Talai Jone).

Both those films, as well as Citizen I and many others, are listed in the Thai Culture Ministry’s Registry of Films as National Heritage.

Others at Vesoul include 1957’s rollicking comedy Country Hotel (โรงแรมนรก, Rong Raem Narok), by pioneering auteur RD Pestonji and Permpol Choei-arun’s Muang Nai Mhok (เมืองในหมอก, a.k.a. A Town in Fog), a taut 1978 drama loosely based on Albert Camus’ The Misunderstanding.

Permpol’s 1978 followup, the drama Pai Daeng (ไผ่แดง , a.k.a. Red Bamboo), about a monk in conflict with his communist childhood friend, will also screen, along with another socialist-leaning tale, 1981’s On the Fringes of Society (ประชาชนนอก) by Manop Udomdej.

Celebrated auteur Cherd Songsri will be represented by his gender equality story from the Rama IV era, 1994’s Amdaeng Muen Kab Nai Rid (อำแดงเหมือนกับนายริด, a.k.a. Muen and Rid), and writer-director Vichit Kounavudhi will have his 1982 rural drama Luk Isaan (ลูกอีสาน , a.k.a. Son of the Northeast).

And among the directors in focus is Euthana Mukdasanit, who will be part of the international jury. His films include the at-one-time-banned 1977 socialist drama Tongpan (ทองปาน), his 1985 Deep South childhood tale Butterfly and Flowers (ผีเสื้อและดอกไม้, Peesua lae dokmai) and the rarely seen 1978 musical romance Angel of Bar 21.

Others taking part in the festival will be South Korean director Im Sang-soo as jury president and Thai producer Donsaron Kovitvanitcha on the Netpac jury. Thai Film Archive deputy director Sanchai Chotirosseranee will also be on hand.

The Vesoul International Festival of Asian Cinema runs from February 3 to 10.

Stayed tuned for another "Festival festival!" entry on the newer films making the rounds in places like Rotterdam and Berlin.

(Cross-published in The Nation)

In Thai cinemas: Awasarn Loke Suay, Krasue Kreung Khon

The year in Thai cinema commences with Awasarn Loke Suay (อวสานโลกสวย), a teen-oriented psychological drama from Kantana Motion Pictures.

Apinya Sakuljaroensuk stars as a faded Internet idol who becomes upset at being unseated by a new schoolgirl star (Napasasi Surawan). She decides to teach the naive upstart a lesson in cruelty. Pun Homcheun and Onusa Donsawai direct, adapting a short film of the same name.

In a gimmick to gin up publicity, there are two versions – rated 18+ and the “uncut” 20-

And there's another Thai film to start 2016 – veteran actor-director Bin Banluerit's horror-comedy
Krasue Kreung Khon (กระสือครึ่งคน) – which has a jungle tribe of dwarfs being terrorized by the notorious krasue, the female ghost of Southeast Asian folklore that’s a floating vampiric head and entrails. It's a mainstream release, from Sahamongkol.



New releases in Thai cinemas this week include the Oscar-nominated 45 Years from upstart indie distributor HAL Film, which made its debut last year with the release of the offbeat foreign indies White God and The Tribe. And, oddly, the Documentary Club is releasing a dramatic feature, that iPhone movie", Tangerine. Shows the possibilities for doc filmmaking, I suppose.

Upcoming events to mention include the Bangkok Art and Culture Center's Cinema Diverse: Directors' Choice series, which wraps up on February 6 with a screening of the Chilean drama No hosted by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand's most-celebrated filmmaker. He and film critic Kong Rithdee will talk about the movie afterward, with translation in English. Registration opens at 4.30pm with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.

Still more events this year include the Goethe-Institut and Thai Film Archive's Wim Wenders Retrospective, which will include Wings of Desire outdoors at Lumpini Park in February and a 3D screening of Pina at the Archive in March. There's also the Salaya International Documentary Film Festival in March, the Archive's travelling Memories fest in April, the Silent Film Festival of Thailand in June and the Thai Short Film and Video Festival in August.

Top 10 Thai films of 2015

Zombies shuffled, independent films delighted and a favorite studio released two more winning entries before closing up shop, helping to make 2015 another memorable year for Thai cinema. Here, mostly in the order viewed, are some of the best Thai movies I saw in Bangkok cinemas last year.

Phi Ha Ayodhaya (The Black Death)

Just as my interest in Thai film had hit an all-time low, MR Chalermchatri “Adam” Yukol reinvigorated my passion with Phi Ha Ayodhaya, the first honest-to-goodness Thai zombie film.

Made with the same props and costumes as the “Suriyothai” and “Naresuan” historical epics of his father MC Chatrichalerm Yukol, Adam’s “Phi Ha Ayodhaya” was set in 1565 and covered what’s possibly the first historical instance of zombies. As the dead come shambling from the battlefields with a hunger for brains, a disparate band of survivors hole up in a brothel and fight back.

With plenty of cartoonish action and a decent helping of cinematic gore, the familiar tropes of George Romero’s “Dead” franchise mixed with the stately pageantry of “Naresuan” and “Pantai Norasingh” to create something refreshing.

Y/our Music

Indie filmmakers David Reeve and Waraluck Hiransrettawat Every begged and borrowed cameras as they shot their documentary over the course of several years, during which they explored the divide between urban and rural folk and examined contrasting Thai music scenes – mostly-unheard-of indie musicians in Bangkok and almost forgotten country stars in the Northeast.

I got to see Y/our Music twice, and both times the film demonstrated its power to move usually reserved Thai movie audiences into spontaneous applause, as if it were a live concert.

P’Chai My Hero a.k.a. How to Win at Checkers (Every Time)

Korean-American director Josh Kim brought much-needed fresh perspective to the scene with his debut feature, a sweet, multi-layered comedy-drama about an 11-year-old boy and his relationship with his openly gay teenage older brother.

At the heart of the story is the Thai military’s unusual lottery-drawing draft, which Kim had previously dealt with in his short documentary Draft Day, covering transgender draftees. Checkers is adapted from the short stories of noted Thai-American writer Rattawut Lapcharoensap, and adds more observations about the class divide. It was one of two major Thai premieres at the Berlin fest and Thailand’s official submission to the Academy Awards.

Freelance .. Ham Puay Ham Phak Ham Rak More (Heart Attack)

Exploited workers and the rickety state of public-health services become unlikely sources of comedy in indie filmmaker Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s directorial debut with the big studio GTH.

He had previously made the abstract romance 36 and wrote screenplays for the hit GTH films Bangkok Traffic Love Story and Top Secret. Nawapol’s quirky deadpan indie style was burnished with the backing of GTH, which provided its bankable stars, leading man Sunny Suwanamethanon as a freelance graphic artist who pushes himself too hard and gets sick, and Davika Hoorne as the lonely young overworked doctor who treats him.

Subverting the “feel good” style of most GTH films, Freelance turned out to be one of the two last films from that company, which broke up at the end of the year. Freelance now provides one possible template for the reformed company, GDH 559, to follow.

Onthakan (The Blue Hour)

Representing the best that Thailand’s burgeoning indie gay cinema movement has to offer, Anucha Boonyawatana directed this remarkable thriller about a bullied gay teenage boy who arranges to meet another young guy. From their initial rough coupling in a forbidden place, their relationship leads to even darker territory.

The other major Thai premiere at Berlin last year, The Blue Hour had a foreboding atmosphere and electrifying performances from the young lead actors, Atthaphan Poonsawas and Oabnithi Wiwattanawarang.

May Nhai .. Fai Raeng Fer (May Who?)

The final film made by GTH before it broke up and then reformed as GDH 559 is more in keeping with the youth-focused slate of films from that company, with its story about a high-school girl with a weird condition that causes her to generate a powerful electrical charge.

The sophomore feature from Chayanop Boonpakob, who followed up his 2011 rock ’n’ roll romance SuckSeed, May Who? was highlighted by a domineering performance by Sutatta Udomsilp as the electrically afflicted teen. Full of positive energy, the picture was further polished with manga-inspired animated sequences, giving May Who? the colorful feel of a comic book.

Vanishing Point

The lives of two men in the midst of existential crises converge in Jakrawal Nilthamrong’s arthouse drama, which won the Hivos Tiger Award at the Rotterdam fest.

Bringing Vanishing Point to Bangkok, Jakrawal chose a rundown porn cinema in Klong Toey for the Thai premiere, creating a visceral connection between our sin-filled realm and the world of the movie, which had things to say about materialism, merit-seeking and willful self-deception. Quietly released in a handful of mall multiplexes, Vanishing Point had much more to say about Buddhism than did another Buddhist-themed drama Arpatti, which created controversy with its trailer showing a novice monk nearly kissing a girl. The film was briefly banned before the filmmakers trimmed the scenes that offended censors and clergymen.

Runpee (Senior)

The year just kept getting better with the unexpected return of New Thai Cinema Movement leader Wisit Sasanatieng, who came back after a five-year hiatus with Runpee, a teen horror comedy released by M-Thirtynine.

Similar to May Nhai, Runpee also had a strong young superpowered heroine. Played by Ploychompoo Jannine Weigel, she’s a Catholic schoolgirl who has the ability to smell ghosts, and teams up with a boy ghost to solve a 50-year-old murder.

It has all the hallmarks of Wisit’s earlier works, including Fah Talai Jone and Pen Choo Kub Pee, with spooky Gothic settings and inventively stylish (and funny) horror sequences.

Sway

More fresh perspective came from Rooth Tang, a US-educated Thai-American filmmaker, making his feature debut with a story about dysfunctional romances in three cities.

Sway was filmed over the course of several years, starting in 2010 in Bangkok with Ananda Everingham and Sajee Apiwong as a couple trying to figure things out.

Subsequent segments filmed in Los Angeles and Paris provide a look at the developing style of a new filmmaker, whose cultural views about East vs West are coincidentally similar to other Western-educated Thai filmmakers, particularly Aditya Assarat and Lee Chatametikool.

Snap

Another New Thai Cinema figure, Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, combines quietly snarky commentary on social-media oversharing with anxiety about the junta in this contemporary romance, which is still playing in Bangkok cinemas following its premiere in competition at Tokyo.

The multi-layered story is about a young woman who spends her days plugged into social media, sharing her heavily filtered and hashtagged photos of everything. But the realities of life come crashing down as she attends the wedding of old friends, reconnects with her high-school boyfriend and has second thoughts about marrying her current beau, a junior Army officer. And it’s all taking place under the cover of martial law.

(Cross-published in The Nation)

Netflix comes to Thailand

I choose GoodFellas as a test and got recommendations based on that.

Netflix, the popular U.S.-based video-on-demand service, made the surprise announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show in the Las Vegas yesterday that it had added 130 countries to its roster overnight, including Thailand.

Plans are 280 baht per month for standard service, which gives you one screen in non-HD format; 350 baht with HD and the ability to stream on two devices and 420 baht for Ultra HD on four devices.

With the Netflix app automatically appearing in my smart TV's menu, I went with the standard plan and it looks fine.

The Netflix Thailand selection appears extremely limited, compared to the U.S. version. For example, there are no Thai films that I can find, presumably because the rights to Thai films are already tied up by other broadcasters in Thailand.

There are also no Thai subtitles, and all the menus are in English, a fact that has to have a lot of expats in Thailand feeling smug.

The popular Netflix series House of Cards is not available yet in Thailand, again likely due to the territorial rights to House of Cards being held by someone else. So no FU for me and you, for now.

There are several other decent series to choose from. For example, the Netflix series Marvel's Jessica Jones is there, as is Daredevil. And Better Call Saul is there. I recommend that. And Gotham.

After staring at the menu for far too long, I picked GoodFellas, and was pleased to find there was none of the type of censorship you see on Thai television, with the blurring of cigarettes, liquor bottles and guns. Also, no bleeping censorship of language. The content. so far as I've seen, appears as it was intended.

Anyway, I took the service for a spin late last night, and live-tweeted the event at both my regular wisekwai twitter and my new TVKwai twitter. Read on for more about my first Netflix experience.

Probably not the best idea, but I'm going to try #NetflixTHAILAND Seems it is not possible to use the keyboard w/SmartTV app. Pain!

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

Oh, but you better believe the number pad on your remote can be used to input the credit card number. #NetflixTHAILAND

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

So #NetflixTHAILAND – all in English, mind you – asks you to pick 3 things to "personalize" the experience.

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

My #NetflixTHAILAND picks: 1. Narcos – Wow 2. Suits – Never seen but, you know, Gina Torres 3. Beasts of No Nation – Want desperately to see

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

Now I'm just staring at a #NetflixTHAILAND menu, not actually watching anything. How many of you "Netflix & Chill" people do that?

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

Here are #NetflixTHAILAND shows I love: Better Call Saul Peaky Blinders Master of None Brooklyn Nine-Nine Orange Is the New Black

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

#NetflixTHAILAND is just super! Gotham Arrow Jessica Jones Daredevil Love these shows to bits. Especially Gotham.

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

They are all "Western TV dramas" on #NetflixTHAILAND Otherwise known as TV. Just like food in Thailand is just food.

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

Other #NetflixTHAILAND categories: Oscar-winning movies – Is Training Day censored?

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

Other #NetflixTHAILAND categories: TV Thrillers – Residue seems to describe it.

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

Other #NetflixTHAILAND categories: More Like Suits – Inception. Look Suits, you had me at Gina Torres. Don't try so hard.

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

Other #NetflixTHAILAND categories: More like Narcos – GoodFellas I just pressed play! Cue the trunk shot. Appears in the right aspect.

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

Liquor bottles, smoking and guns don't seem to be an issue on #NetflixTHAILAND as they are on Thai TV. GoodFellas is a good censorship test

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

Also. Language! Mama Scorsese would not be pleased. So much swearing in GoodFellas on #NetflixTHAILAND and not a bleep or bloop to be heard.

— WiseKwaiTV (@TVKwai) January 7, 2016

"I'm funny how? I mean funny like I'm a clown? I amuse you?" Locked into GoodFellas now. Will explore more #NetflixTHAILAND later

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

So, just to recap: #NetflixTHAILAND is a thing. If you have a SmartTV, the app for the service should automatically appear. And off you go.

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

You know, I recreate the GoodFellas Copa tracking shot, each weekend through the backdoor of Scala #BangkokCinemas #NetflixTHAILAND

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

"No more shines, Billy." Went w/280bt plan. 1st month free. Limited to one screen and isn't HD. But looks fine #NetflixTHAILAND

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

"And now I have to turn my back on you. There is no other way." Now watching Suits. And there's Gina Torres, in a suit! #NetflixTHAILAND

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

#NetflixTHAILAND category: Because I Watched GoodFellas – Know all in top row by heart except Cocaine Cowboys pic.twitter.com/2STraOLd8W

— wisekwai (@wisekwai) January 7, 2016

Insects in the Backyard still banned

Back after the holidays and following up on news from the end of the year, it turns out that Tanwarin Sukkhapisit's Insects in the Backyard is still banned, according to news reports of a court ruling issued on Christmas Day.

In a ruling issued on December 25, the Administrative Court held that the ban on Insects is legitimate due to scenes that shows sex organs and intercourse.

“The Court said Insects in the Backyard has a scene showing sexual intercourse for around three seconds,which it deemed to be against good morals,” Tanwarin's lawyer Yingcheep Atchanont was quoted as saying by Khao Sod English.

If that scene is cut, Tanwarin could likely show the film, if it were rated 20-, the court suggested, according Khao Sod English.

The court's ruling backtracks on earlier reports that seemed to indicate that the ban might be overturned. However, those reports were based on one judge's opinion, issued independently "to balance the opinion of the panel of judges adjudicating it", according to the Bangkok Post.

So, I imagine, the landmark legal battle against censorship will continue. Tanwarin, meanwhile, is at work on her next project, more of which will be revealed.