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)

Checkers jumps into place as Thailand's Oscars contender

The independent coming-of-age drama How to Win at Checkers (Every Time), a.k.a. P'Chai My Hero (พี่ชาย My Hero) has been chosen to represent Thailand in the 88th Academy Awards.

As announced today in a press release by the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand, Checkers was picked by an eight-member committee that considered films released in Thai cinemas from October 1, 2014 to September 30 of this year.

Aside from Checkers, other titles that were pondered were the current hit romantic comedy Freelance, the just-released literary-classic adaptation Mae Bia (แม่เบี้ย, a.k.a. The Snake), the gay psychological thriller The Blue Hour (Onthakan, อนธการ), the time-travel comedy 2538 Alter Ma Jive (2538 อัลเทอร์มาจีบ) and the Catholic schoolteacher biographical drama F. Hilaire (ฟ.ฮีแลร์).

However, after much debate and analysis by the committee, it was decided that Checkers "transcended" the other choices, said Weerasak Kowsurat, the committee chairman.

The debut feature by Korean-American director Josh Kim, How to Win at Checkers (Every Time) is adapted from Sightseeing, the short story collection of noted Thai-American author Rattawut Lapcharoensap. The comedy-drama, set against the backdrop of class conflict in Thai society, centers on 11-year-old Oat, a poor orphan raised by his openly gay older brother Ek and their superstitious aunt. With Ek facing the upcoming military draft lottery, Oat takes a big risk to ensure his brother will not be conscripted.

Checkers premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and has made the rounds on the circuit. It was given the Thai title of P'Chai My Hero (literally My Brother, My Hero) for local release in July. It was produced by an international consortium of filmmakers from Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand and the US, including Thai director-producer Anocha Suwichakornpong.

The film federation's selection has a notable omission from this year's festival circuit, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Cemetery of Splendour, which has garnered much acclaim since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, and more recently in Toronto. However, it has not yet been released in Thailand. Apichatpong's previous feature, the 2010 Cannes Palme d'Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, was submitted for the 83rd Academy Awards.

Checkers is the 22nd Thai entry in the Oscars race for Best Foreign Language Film, which Thailand has taken part in since 1984. None have made the short-list of nominees.

Review: P'Chai My Hero (How to Win at Checkers (Every Time))

• Directed by Josh Kim
• Starring Ingkarat Damrongsakkul, Thira Chutikul, Arthur Navarat, Natarat Lakha
• Released in Thai cinemas on July 16, 2015; reviewed at Bangkok Gay and Lesbian Film Festival; rated 18+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 4/5

A much-needed fresh perspective in Thai cinema emerges in the indie drama P’Chai My Hero (พี่ชาย My Hero), a.k.a. How to Win at Checkers (Every Time).

It’s the unique view of outsiders – Chicago-born, Thai-raised writer Rattawut Lapcharoensap and Josh Kim, a Korean-American filmmaker from Texas. To tell the heart-warming, bittersweet tale of orphaned brothers growing up, writer-director Kim added flourishes of his own to two stories from Rattawut’s Sightseeing anthology, “Draft Day” and “At the Cafe Lovely”.

Checkers, which premiered to much acclaim at the Berlin film fest and is re-titled for Thailand as P’Chai My Hero, centers on the tender bond between insecure 11-year-old Oat and his openly gay older brother Ek. Orphaned at an early age, the working-class boys live with their aunt and her pest of a young daughter. They also have a tight-knit group of friends, including Ek’s higher-class boyfriend Jai and transgender pal Kitty.

The gay characters are naturally drawn, avoiding the tendency to turn such figures into shrieking, flailing comic relief. Ek is positively masculine as he tinkers with the motorbike his father left him. And it’s this ordinary treatment of queer folk that makes P’Chai My Hero so refreshing.

They are also quirky characters that seem plucked from the New Thai Cinema Movement of the late ’90s and early aughts, when the now-snoozeworthy Thai film industry was awakened by such figures as writer-directors Wisit Sasanatieng, Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Kongdej Jaturanrasamee and writer Prabda Yoon.

The aunt (Vatanya Thamdee) is superstitious to a fault, and spends her hard-earned dough buying eels to release in daily merit-making rituals. Her urchin of a daughter always seems to come out of nowhere, catching the boys at inopportune moments, and her forthcoming appearance is forever mystically presaged by a clucking red hen.

The boys hang out at a swimming pool with their ladyboy friend Kitty (Natarat Lakha), who is the embodiment of confidence as she struts past admirers in her red one-piece bathing suit, which shows off her prominent bulging groin. No one seems to care that she is a he, and Kitty points out that plenty of the guys at the pool are actually “into that”, albeit secretly.

So being gay is not really the issue. The real conflict of P’Chai My Hero is one that has always dogged Thai society – class differences. And those differences are highlighted by the approaching annual military draft lottery, which is unique to Thailand and thus compelling for the rest of the world. Ek pessimistically believes he is fated to pick a red card, be drafted into the army and sent to the restive South. It’s a subject Kim previously covered in his 2013 short documentary Draft Day, which covered transgenders taking part in the drawing.

Jai (Arthur Navarat) believes he can buy his way to picking a black card, and thus dodging military service. Yes, it’s our old friend corruption. This gives Oat an idea, but following through on his plan will have dire, life-shaping consequences for all.

Oat, portrayed remarkably by Ingkarat Damrongsakkul, begins to come out of his shell. Along with scheming for ways to keep his brother from being drafted, he also wants desperately to beat Ek at checkers. It’s a deal the brothers have, and if Oat wins, he’ll get anything he wants. Looking for a winning strategy, Oat scrapes together a few coins to buy one of those self-help books from a newsstand. The title is "How to Win at Checkers (Every Time)", but he’s too young to realise that that’s merely metaphorical and the only person being helped is the book’s shyster author. But, with his new win-at-any-cost ethos, Oat is finally granted his wish – to go with Ek for a night out in Bangkok.

And here’s where the extremely dark “At the Cafe Lovely” story kicks in. It takes the boys to the gay bar where Ek works for explosive events in a night that will haunt Oat forever. It’s this segment where the actor portraying Ek, Thira Chutikul, is particularly potent.

Having previously portrayed the young Chavoret Jaruboon in The Last Executioner, he’s one to keep an eye on.

Oh, and Michael Shaowanasai, a pioneering New Thai Cinema filmmaker known for his crossing-dressing Iron Pussy character, turns up as a bar patron who takes a creepy interest in Oat.

The tumultuous tale is bookended by segments that show Oat all grown up and portrayed by brooding singer-actor Tony Rakkaen. He’s haunted by nightmares and bad memories, but somehow has escaped the cycle of poverty and death that claims so many young Thai men. That might be another tale for Kim to tell.

Not only is this Thai film cobbled together from the English literature of a Thai-American writer by a Korean-American director, the producers hail from all over – Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand and the US. They are Edward Gunawan, Chris Lee, Andrew Thomas Tiernan and Anocha Suwichakornpong. This spirit of multinational collaboration could well signal a direction to follow in the Asean Economic Community as Southeast Asia’s filmmakers look for ways to tell stories that resonate with home audiences as well as those abroad.

(Cross-published in The Nation)




Related posts:

• How to Win at Checkers, Blue Hour and So Be It at Berlinale
• Checkers, Blue Hour to make Thai debut at Bangkok Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Concrete Clouds float over London in Thai Indie Fest

U.K. independent movie distributor Day for Night is releasing Lee Chatametikool's award-winning drama Concrete Clouds (ภวังค์รัก, Phawang Rak) as part of the first Thai Indie Fest in London, which will screen several other award-winning indie Thai titles over the next month or so.

In fact, Thai Indie Fest got underway yesterday with a screening of Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit's 36. Other entries are Tongpong Chantarangkul's road trip tale I Carried You Home, Aditya Assarat's post-tsunami romance Wonderful Town and Anocha Suwichakornpong's social drama Mundane History.

Up next on June 9 is I Carried You Home (Padang Besar, ปาดังเบซา), about two estranged sisters who are forced back together by the death of their mother, for a tense cross-country road trip with the corpse in the back of an ambulance. It screens at 8pm on June 9 at COG ARTSpace.

Wonderful Town, in which an architect planning a new development in an isolated town hit by the tsunami, strikes up a relationship with a hotel manager, screens at 7.15pm on Tuesday, June 23 at the Proud Archivist.

Concrete Clouds, which is set in Bangkok during 1997 financial crisis, brings together two estranged brothers after the suicide of their father. While the older brother (Ananda Everingham) tries to get things in order at home and attempts to reconnect with an old girlfriend, the aimless younger brother strikes up a relationship with a lonely neighbor girl.

It is the feature directorial debut for Lee, who is well known for his work as a film editor, particularly his collaborations with Apichatpong Weeraesthakul, most recently on Cemetery of Splendour (รักที่ขอนแก่น, Rak Ti Khon Kaen), which premiered at last month's Cannes Film Festival.

There are several events to mark the release of Concrete Clouds, with a screening at noon on June 27 at the Rich Mix with Lee doing a post-screening talk. He'll also be on hand for a show at 8.10pm on June 28 at the Ritzy and 7.30pm on July at the Regent Street Cinema. Concrete Clouds is also showing at the Watershed in Bristol from June 26 to July 2.

And Thai Indie Fest wraps up with Mundane History, a slow-burn social-class drama about the paralyzed son of a wealthy family being cared for by a male nurse from a rural upbringing. The screening is at 7pm on July 6 at the Regent Street Cinema.

"The Thai independent film scene is thriving, with a new generation of filmmakers coming to the fore. Often carrying undertones of social, political or economic uncertainty and realities in contemporary Thailand, common themes emerge – memory and imagination, love and loss, decay and regeneration," Day for Night says. "Thai Indie Fest will celebrate some of the freshest filmmaking from the Thai independent scene with a season of award‐winning debut features by Thai 'second new wave' directors."

All the films, winners of multiple awards in Thailand and abroad, share several other common threads, mainly Lee himself, an award-winning film editor who helped shape Mundane History and Wonderful Town. I'm pretty sure he was post-production supervisor on 36 and lash me with noodles if he wasn't involved somehow with I Carried You Home.

Also, there's actress Apinya Sakuljareonsuk, who stars in both Concrete Clouds and I Carried You Home. She just recently won a Tukkata Tong Award for best supporting actress for her work in Concrete Clouds.

Golden Swans drop Concrete Clouds back in Bangkok cinemas

While some Hollywood films experience an "Oscar bump" in box-office takings following the Academy Awards, the producers behind the award-winning Concrete Clouds are hoping for a similar boost with a limited re-release in Bangkok cinemas.

Following last Sunday's big win of three Golden Swan trophies at the 24th Subhanahongsa Awards, Concrete Clouds (ภวังค์รัก, Phawang Rak), is screening at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld. Shows will be at around 5:50pm nightly.

Post by Concrete Clouds.

Winner of best film and best director at the Thai movie industry's version of the Oscars, Concrete Clouds stars Ananda Everingham, Janesuda Parnto, Prawith Hansten and best-supporting-actress winner Apinya Sakuljaroensuk in a story set in 1997 Bangkok, during the Asian financial meltdown. Ananda is a New York currency trader who returns to Thailand after the suicide of his father. While trying to put affairs in order for his estranged younger brother, he attempts to reconnect with an old flame.

In development since around 2010, Concrete Clouds is the long-awaited directorial debut of Lee Chatametikool, a film editor who came up during the late '90s Thai New Wave, and has been instrumental in shaping award-winning Thai indie films of the era, most notably the features of Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Mundane History by Apinya Sakuljaroensuk. Those two returned the favor by producing Concrete Clouds alongside Soros Sukhum and Hong Kong luminary Yonfan.

Put together with support that included Busan's Asian Cinema Fund, Visions Sud Est and Rotterdam's Hubert Bals Fund, Concrete Clouds premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in 2013 and the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2014.

Distribution deals include one for the U.K. and Ireland with Day for Night. In North America, it screened at last May's L.A. Asian Pacific Film Fest, and it's hinted that perhaps a series of campus screenings might be organized, so keep your eye out for that.

In case you missed it, the subtitled trailer is embedded below.

Concrete Clouds flies high at Subhanahongsa Awards

Producer Soros Sukhum accepts the Best Film award for Concrete Clouds, alongside Lee Chatametikool. Cast and crew, including producers Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Yonfan and Anocha Suwichakornpong are also present. Courtesy of FNFAT.

Despite the best efforts of the nominating body to steer voters toward more-commercial fare, the indie drama Concrete Clouds was the big winner at the 24th Subhanahongsa Awards, the Thai film industry's version of the Oscars.

Coming from a field dominated by mainstream studio entries,  Concrete Clouds (ภวังค์รัก, Phawang Rak), the feature debut by veteran indie film editor Lee Chatametikool was named Best Film, and it also took the Golden Swan trophy for best director.

The glitzy black-tie-optional ceremony was held on Sunday night at the Thailand Cultural Center in Bangkok.

The Best Film award was accepted by veteran indie Thai producer Soros Sukhum, alongside Lee. They were joined onstage by other cast and crew and the co-producers, indie Thai directors Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Anocha Suwichakornpong, who have worked closely with Lee in the past, and Hong Kong producer Yonfan.

Long in the works, Concrete Clouds is the story of a Thai currency trader who is forced to return from New York to Bangkok after the suicide of his father during the 1997 financial crisis. While dealing with his estranged younger brother, the trader seeks to rekindle romance with an old flame.

Going into the awards, Concrete Clouds had nine nominations, including screenplay and all four actor categories for the cast of Ananda Everingham, Janesuda Parnto, Apinya Sakuljaroensuk and Prawith Hansten. Prolific young starlet Apinya rounded out the trophy count for Clouds, winning best supporting actress for her performance as a lonely neighbor girl who has a fling with the younger brother.

Two from Concrete Clouds – best supporting actress winner Apinya Sakuljaroensuk and the best director winner Lee. Winning best actor Jirayu La-ongmanee from Chiang Khan Story poses for photos in the background. Courtesy of FNFAT

The remaining acting prizes were spread among a trio of other mainstream-industry films – Jarinporn Joonkiat as best actress for her disarming turn as a stubborn young woman in Nonzee Nimibutr's romantic drama Timeline Jodmai Khwam Songjam (Timeline จดหมาย-ความทรงจำ); former child star Jirayu La-ongmanee as best actor for his performance as a lovelorn young filmmaker in Yuthlert Sippapak's Chiang Khan Story (Tukkae Rak Pang Mak, ตุ๊กแกรักแป้งมาก); and screen veteran Pongpat Wachirabanjong as best supporting actor in the new stage-leaning adaptation of a famous Thai novel that had been made into a film before, Plae Kao (The Scar).

The leading Subhanahongsa nominee was the GTH studio's romantic drama, director Nithiwat Tharatorn's The Teacher's Diary (คิดถึงวิทยา, Kid Tueng Wittaya). With 13 nods in all, it won the most prizes, grabbing up six Golden Swan trophies, including screenplay, cinematography, editing and music.

And a new category this year sought to reflect the trendiness of documentaries screening in cinemas. Three were nominated – By the River, Nontawat Numbenchapol's examination of a Karen village hit by an environmental disaster; Somboon, Krisada Tipchaimeta's heartfelt look at an elderly man's efforts to care for his chronically ailing wife; and The Master by Nawapol Thamrongratanarit.

And, not surprisingly, the award went to The Master, which reflects on the film industry with an entertaining line-up of Thai film figures and critics who recalled their early cinematic education in the form of bootleg videos purchased from the infamous Chatuchak Market pirate vendor Mr. Van.

The lifetime achievement award was also handed out. This year it went to action star Sombat Methanee, who at one time or another claimed a world record for most filmed appearances. Getting his start in 1960s, he rose to be the Thai film industry's top leading man after the death of Mitr Chaibancha in 1970. Among his hundreds of films was the 1965 romantic comedy Sugar Is Not Sweet by Ratt Pestonji, the 1966 version of the historical battle epic Bang Rajan, the gritty 1970 action thriller Choompae and the 2000 Thai western Tears of the Black Tiger.

This was the second year for a new voting process instituted by the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand, which aims to make the Subhanahongsas more like the Academy Awards, in which members of the industry cast votes for films depending on their areas of expertise. Previous years had relied on a jury of critics and old industry hands nominating and selecting the winners. However, the niggling problem remains of not all Federation members actually getting out to see the films. There's more about that in a story today in The Nation.

Best documentary winner Nawapol Thamrongratanarit (The Master) and best actress winner Jarinporn Joonkiat from Timeline. Courtesy of FNFAT

• Best Film – Concrete Clouds
• Director – Lee Chatametikool, Concrete Clouds
• Screenplay: Nithiwat Tharatorn, Thosaphol Thiptinnakorn, Suppalerk Ningsanon, Sophana Chaowiwatkool, The Teacher’s Diary
• Actor – Jirayu La-ongmanee, Chiang Khan Story
• Actress – Jarinporn Joonkiat, Timeline Jodmai Khwam Songjum
• Supporting actor – Pongpat Wachirabanjong, Plae Kao
• Supporting actress – Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Concrete Clouds
• Cinematography – Narupon Chokkanapitak, The Teacher’s Diary
• Film editing – Thammarat Sumethsupachok, Pongsakorn Chanchalermchai, The Teacher’s Diary
• Original song – "Mai Tang Kan" by 25 Hours, The Teacher’s Diary
• Recording and sound mixing: Richard Hocks, The Couple (รัก ลวง หลอน, Rak Luang Lon)
• Original score – Hualampong Riddim, The Teacher’s Diary
• Art direction – Akradej Kaewkote, The Teacher’s Diary
• Costume design – Athit Thriakittiwat, Plae Kao
• Makeup – Sirirat Jamfa, Hong Hoon (ห้องหุ่น, a.k.a. Crack My Skin)
• Visual effects – The Post Bangkok, Sming
• Documentary – The Master, Nawapol Thamrongratanarit

How to Win at Checkers, Blue Hour and So Be It at Berlinale

Three Thai film are featured in the Berlin International Film Festival this year. Two of them, How to Win at Checkers (Every Time) and The Blue Room are world premieres, while the third is the Buddhism documentary So Be It, which makes its European premiere.

Directed by Josh Kim, How to Win at Checkers (Every Time), is based on the best-selling book Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap, and is the coming-of-age story of brothers struggling to survive and stay together in a land plagued by social and economic inequality.

Originally called Draft Day, but presumably changed to avoid confusion with the Kevin Costner sports drama, the story involves Thailand's military conscription, in which all males turning 21 must participate in the military draft lottery. Drawing a black card grants exemption. Drawing a red card results in two years of service. When his older brother, Ek, faces the possibility of being drafted, 11-year old Oat must begin to learn to grow up and take care of himself.

Representing one possible future of Southeast Asian filmmaking in the Asean Economic Community era, the producers of Checkers hail from Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand and the US. They are Edward Gunawan, Chris Lee, Andrew Thomas Tiernan and Anocha Suwichakornpong.

The Blue Hour (อนธการ, Onthakan) is garnering solid buzz among those in the know. Described by them as a "gay murder mystery", it's directed by Anucha Boonyawatana, an indie helmer who made his debut in 2004 with Down the River, and was in competition in Berlin in 2012 with the short Erotic Fragments No.1,2,3. Here's the synopsis:

Tam, a loner gay boy is always bullied by his friends at school. At home, his father who works in the army always beats him. His mother and brother never trust him. One day, Tam gets to know Phum, a mysterious boy on the Internet. He goes to meet him at an abandoned swimming pool. The begin their relationship which will lead Tam to commit the biggest crime of his life.

Checkers and the Blue Hour are both in the Panorama section, while the Generations program has So Be It, Kongdej Jaturanrasmee's documentary about two very different boys and how Buddhism touches their lives. It's the second consecutive year for Kongdej in Berlin, who was there last year with his teen drama Tang Wong.

Vanishing Point – no, not that Vanishing Point – appears in Rotterdam's Tiger competition

Each year, the International Film Festival Rotterdam provides a good look at things to come in indie Thai cinema, and this year's big highlight is the world premiere of Vanishing Point (วานิชชิ่ง พอยท์), a new feature from video artist and indie helmer Jakrawal Nilthamrong.

Containing a car – though likely not a 1970 Dodge Challenger – and twisted wreckage, Vanishing Point is not a remake of the cult-classic car-chase drama, though like the characters in that 1971 flick, the folks in 2015's Vanishing Point are also dealing with existential crises.

It's actually a partly autobiographical picture by Jakrawal, who opens it with photos and words from Thai newspaper articles from 1983, reporting on a horrific car-train wreck that left his mother severely injured and his father permanently disabled. From there, he branches out with a fictional drama, involving various characters struggling with their beliefs.

Here's the festival synopsis:

A serious film about serious, complex issues (including a dramatic car crash), presented in a light, playful way. The film follows two very different men, each of whom changes his life in his own way. This doesn’t seem to be a direct result of the choices they make. Change can be like that.

Vanishing Point is an exercise in self-examination, even if Thai director Jakrawal Nilthamrong doesn’t appear directly in the film. It opens with images of a car crash involving Nilthamrong’s parents. Disturbing original news photos are initially used, but the director quickly switches to a fictional reconstruction at the scene of a crime, deep in a wood. We don't yet know how this shocking crime is related to the car accident. Various facts and stories are cautiously presented; the pieces of the puzzle don’t fall into place straight away.

Vanishing Point follows a young reporter who attends the reconstruction without being particularly impressed. He is against injustice, but is unable to give concrete expression to this feeling. Another storyline involves motel owner Yai, a joyless voyeur with little feeling for his family. His attempts to escape his day-to-day existence don’t really help.

The film is not sombre, however. Nilthamrong makes good use of diverting elements such as karaoke videos and popular music to develop his themes with a light touch. The question of how his parents’ accident has affected his life is a serious sidelight: how all of our actions affect the rest of our lives.

For more details, check the production PDF or Facebook. There's also a trailer. Just keep scrolling.

As usual, IFFR has a passel of Thai short films as well. Here's the line-up:

• Auntie Maam Has Never Had a Passport – Sorayos Prapapan's well-travelled festival entry satirizes Thailand's foreign affairs and even film festivals like Rotterdam with a story about an elderly lady who appears in Thai indie films who gets a chance to travel overseas to a film fest.
• Deleted – Nitas Sinwattanakul directs this 2013 short, about a man who continues to post on Facebook even after he dies, and his wife is powerless to block him.
• Endless, Nameless – Pathompon "Mont" Tesprateep's wacky experimental short was shot on Super 8 film that was hand-processed. Yes. It's a flm made on actual film. Not sure what the heck it's about, but it won the top prize at last year's Thai Short Film and Video Festival.
• Thursday – Festival regular Anocha Suwichakornpong, who got her big break in Rotterdam with her debut feature Mundane History, collaborates with Sarajevo filmmaker Sejla Kameric on a 44-minute visual dialogue that offers wordless impressions from old Europe and changing Asia.

The International Film Festival Rotterdam runs from January 21 to February 1.

Busan 2014: Mosquito puts Thieves, Exploding Durians, So Be It and W on autumn slate

River of Exploding Durians premieres at the Tokyo film fest.

Mosquito Films Distribution, the indie film shingle launched earlier this year by several prominent Thai filmmakers, is expanding its reach in Southeast Asia, announcing the addition of two Malaysian entries to its slate of titles being promoted at autumn film festivals.

At Busan, the Mosquitos are touting The Second Life of Thieves by Malaysia's Woo Ming Jin, along with two new Thai features, W by Chonlasit Upanigkit and So Be It by Kongdej Jaturanrasmee. They'll also be at the Tokyo International Film Festival with River of Exploding Durians, the debut feature of Malaysia's Edmund Yeo.

Here's more from a press release yesterday:

Says Woo, “Edmund and I are excited to work with Mosquito. We are in good hands and look forward to a long-term relationship with them. I believe this is a collaboration that will serve not just Malaysian and Thai cinema, but also Southeast Asian cinema in general. Together, we can share more of our films with the rest of the world”.

The Second Life of Thieves is Woo’s highly-anticipated fifth feature while River of Exploding Durians is Yeo’s debut after many award-winning shorts. The two filmmakers collaborate closely on all their films with each taking the producing role while the other is directing.

Says Mosquito’s Aditya Assarat, “All of us Southeast Asians are making films under the same circumstances. Because of this, we share the same DIY spirit that is behind Mosquito Films to begin with. After launching the company in January with our own titles, we’re proud to take our first step towards representing regional films by partnering with the prolific Greenlight Pictures.”

In addition to Aditya, other partners in Mosquito Films Distribution are Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Pimpaka Towira, Soros Sukhum, Anocha Suwichakornpong and Lee Chatametikool.

The Second Life of Thieves has intertwining relationships of one man who discovers his wife has disappeared with his friend – a man he had a secret relationship for decades. He in turn forms an unlikely friendship with his friend's daughter. "They embark on an emotional journey that will open old and new wounds alike. Juxtaposing between present day and 30 years in the past, The Second Life of Thieves is a meditation on love, loss, and regret."

River of Exploding Durians, the first Malaysian film selected for the main competition of the Tokyo International Film Festival, is set in a coastal town is turned upside down by the construction of a radioactive rare earth plant. An idealistic teacher and a group of high school students find themselves battling for the soul of their hometown. "Based on real-life events, River of Exploding Durians is a sweeping tale of Malaysian history and its youth, where people are enveloped by politics and sadness while searching for love."

So Be It, meanwhile, is Kongdej's followup to his award-winning teen social drama Tang Wong. Here, he looks at two young boys, a seven-year-old city kid who is the star of a reality show and an 11-year-old hilltribe boy who become novice monks. "A documentary fiction hybrid film that uses as its starting point a popular TV show and ends up becoming a coming-of-age story of two boys from vastly different backgrounds."

And W, the debut feature of 24-year-old film editor Chonlasit Upanigkit, focuses on a young woman struggling with her first year of college as she and her new friends say goodbye to their youth and get ready to embrace an uncertain future. "The film is an epic of Thai college life made as the thesis project of the director at his university in the outskirts of Bangkok."

More about W and another Busan entry That Day of the Month, can be found at the Bangkok Post.

Review: Concrete Clouds

• Directed by Lee Chatametikool
• Starring Ananda Everingham, Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Janesuda Parnto, Prawith Hansten
• Limited release in Thai cinemas on September 18, 2014; rated 18+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 4/5

Like its English title, Concrete Clouds, the movie Phawang Rak (ภวังค์รัก)0 is full of contradictions. It’s breezy, but deals with heavy emotions. It’s a romance, but there’s little real love. It feels unstructured, even though the minds behind it have very specific ideas about what they want to say and how they want to say it.

The much-anticipated directorial debut by long-time film editor Lee Chatametikool, Concrete Clouds is set during the complex and uncertain days of the 1997 financial crisis. It feels newer, yet is somehow still timeless.

Ananda Everingham stars as Mutt, a currency trader in New York who must suddenly return to Bangkok when his father takes a shortcut to the ground floor from the roof of his four-storey shophouse. After the funeral, Mutt tries to reconnect with Sai (Janesuda Parnto), his old girlfriend from high school. Meanwhile his younger brother Nic (Prawith Hansten) has struck up a relationship with Poupee (Apinya Sakuljaroensuk), a teenager who lives in a low-income flat behind their shophouse.

They are all conflicted characters. Mutt, who quite possibly enriched himself and his New York firm by betting on the Thai economy’s downfall, has a Westerner girlfriend back in the Big Apple. Yet he’s pursuing Sai, an actress and model in the midst of remaking herself as a businesswoman. But she’s not as happy nor as successful as she appears to be, and her pricey riverfront condo sits mostly empty.

Nic is too young to know what he wants out of life. Much younger than Mutt, he has little in common with his brother. Mutt, sitting at this father’s old desk, lectures the boy, in English, basically telling him it’s time to get out of Thailand. Mutt, who wants rid of the rundown family home, seeks to uproot Nic.

Poupee, meanwhile, is introduced while inhaling the vapours of a pink ya ba pill, which she quickly puts away when cops show up on the roof of the house across from hers. It seems likely she’ll follow her sister into the bar industry, but is content for the moment in her burgeoning romance with Nic.

As the couples pair off, the movie falls into a rhythm. Static scenes of the characters staring off in sadness are filled with silence that is stifling. But they are interchanged with livelier activities, such as Mutt visiting a Bangkok gentleman’s club with his old pals, or Sai doing a modelling gig and reconnecting with her friends.

Nic and Poupee are the characters in fantasy karaoke-video segments, which are complete with the lyrics for singing along. The karaoke dreams are vividly presented in the super-saturated colours of 1990s videos, making for eye-popping images that also recall Thai films of the time.

It’s a stuttering, shattered reflection on 1997 by Lee, who returned to Bangkok that year after being schooled overseas. In the years since, he’s gone on to be a major figure in the Thai movie business. As an editor, he’s helped shape such films as Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cannes prize-winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives and Anocha Suwichakornpong’s Mundane History, as well as various mainstream Thai movies.

Both Apichatpong and Anocha are producers on Concrete Clouds, along with veteran Thai independent-film hand Soros Sukhum and Taiwanese actress-director Sylvia Chang. It’s been supported along the way by various cinema funds and project markets, including Visions Sud East from Switzerland, the Busan film fest’s Asian Cinema Fund and the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Concrete Clouds is a tribute to Lee’s stunning resume and it shows just how big an influence he’s been on Thai indie cinema, even if it’s hard to tell just whose hand is on the tiller. Really, it’s a dizzying blend of all the usual elements of Thai indie films. There is the stillness and silences that punctuate Apichatpong’s offerings, and the jittering, jazz-like narrative structure reminded me of the chopped-and-diced timeline of Mundane History.

Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s 1997 debut Fun Bar Karaoke is specifically referenced, with a poster on Nic’s wall, but also in the dream-like karaoke sequences.

The presence of Ananda, well suited for the role of Mutt, recalls another project Lee edited and Ananda starred in, Aditya Assarat’s Hi-So, which dealt with the cross-cultural conflict of a Thai-American actor.

Spirited young actress Saipan Apinya again spreads her magic pixie dust, enlivening yet another film in much the same way she did in her debut in Pen-ek’s Ploy in 2007. And her character here feels like an extension of the one she played in Tongpong Chantarangkul’s 2011 road-trip drama I Carried You Home. Not only does she smoke ya ba (the main reason for the movie’s 18+ rating), she strips down do her knickers for a daring sex scene. Deft lighting, editing and probably makeup ensure that outspoken Saipan’s very un-’90s tattoos stay hidden.

And, like most indie films, there are startling discoveries of new talent, like the lovely brooding Janesuda and Prawith, making his screen debut as the angst-filled teen.



See also:

• Official trailer

By the Time It Gets Dark backed by Doha

Anocha Suwichakornpong received a boost in making her sophomore feature from the Doha Film Institute, which included By the Time It Gets Dark (Dao Khanong) among 20 projects for its first global film grants.

By the Time It Gets Dark will be about a young female factory worker becoming accustomed to life in Bangkok.

Anocha, working on her followup to her 2009 debut Mundane History, has also received support from the Rotterdam fest's Hubert Bals Fund as well as the fest's Prince Claus Fund.

The grants from the Qatar-based Doha Film Institute go to mostly first or second features from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin American, the Middle East and North Africa.

Screen Daily has the full list.

Concrete Clouds, All Powerful! in Hong Kong fest

Lee Chatametikool's debut feature Concrete Clouds and Aditya Assarat's short film All Powerful! will screen in the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Starring Ananda Everingham and Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Concrete Clouds (ภวังค์รัก, Pavang Rak) is showing as part of the Global Vision program. Here's the synopsis:

The financial crisis of the late 1990s left an indelible mark on Asia, as Chatametikool shows as he heads back to 1997 in this simultaneously kitschy and contemplative film. When Mutt returns to Bangkok from Manhattan after his father’s suicide, he reconnects with an old girlfriend just as his younger brother embarks on his own fragile romance with a neighbour. Secrets, reality, fantasy and memory press down on the various relationships, and determine how they ultimately succeed or fail.

Long in development and produced by a host of filmmaking talent, including Anocha Suwichakornpong and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Concrete Clouds was supported by the Hong Kong fest's Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum. It premiered at last year's Busan fest. Other appearances include the Tiger Awards competition at Rotterdam and the recent Vesoul fest in France. Distributed by the new company Mosquito Films Distribution, a Thai release is planned for sometime this year, but is likely pending an end to the increasingly violent anti-government protests that have paralyzed Bangkok.

All Powerful! is in the short-film competition. Reuniting the maids and the security guard from Aditya's previous short film, the Hi-So adjunct Six to Six, it has the now-out-of-work guard trying to sell quack medical devices to the skeptical auntie and his young former co-worker. Aditya himself makes an appearance. All Powerful! previously screened in last year's Thai Short Film and Video Festival as well as the recent Clermont-Ferrand fest.

The Hong Kong fest has two opening films, both by Hong Kong directors – Pang Ho-chun's family drama Aberdeen starring Louis Koo, Miriam Yeung and Gigi Leung, and Fruit Chan's post-apocalyptic thriller The Midnight After. The closing film is Dante Lam’s That Demon Within.

Among the world premieres is Beautiful 2014, the third installment in the anthology series co-produced by HKIFF and Chinese online video platform Youku. It has segments directed by Christopher Doyle, China’s Zhang Yuan, Hong Kong’s Shu Kei and South Korea’s Kang Je-gyu.

There will be a Philippines Day on March 30 in tribute to victims of Typhoon Yolanda, and a special "Glories of Filipino Cinema" program will include such films as Erik Matti’s On the Job, Chris Martinez’ Kimmy Dora: Ang Kiyemeng Prequel, Lav Diaz Norte, the End of History and Barber's Tales, starring ubiquitous leading lady Eugene Domingo.

The 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival runs from March 24 to April 7.

IFFR 2014: Top Thai indie filmmakers launch Mosquito Films Distribution

The Mosquito people, from left, Anocha, Aditya, Soros, Apichatpong, Lee, Pimpaka and Sompot.

Leading Thai independent filmmakers – directors Aditya Assarat, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Lee Chatametikool, Pimpaka Towira and producer Soros Sukhum – have banded together to start Mosquito Films Distribution.

The launch of the new company was announced this week at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where several Mosquito titles are screening, among them Lee's debut feature Concrete Clouds, the world premiere of Uruphong Raksasad's The Songs of Rice,  Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit's Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy and the omnibus Letters from the South.

Sompot “Boat” Chidgasornpongse, among the attendees at this year's Berlin Talent Campus, has been named as the company's general manager.

Here's more from the company's website:

The new company will handle international sales and festival distribution for the partners’ films as well as upcoming titles from the new generation of Southeast Asian filmmakers.  The focus is on maximizing the potential of each individual film as well as aggregating the content into curated programs for festivals and educational institutions with a focus on Southeast Asian cinema.

Says Weerasethakul, “We are so busy day to day that we sometimes forget we have amassed quite a beautiful set of movies.  I think its time we unite and share these films to the world.  I, for one, am fascinated by the aesthetic of the new Thai films.  I am certain we are heading towards something more and more innovative”.

Mosquito Films Distribution will kick off operations at the 2014 Rotterdam Film Festival with a high profile selection of new and recent films: Concrete Clouds, directed by Chatametikool and co-produced by Weerasethakul, The Songs of Rice, directed by Uruphong Raksasad and produced by Towira, Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy, directed by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit and produced by Assarat, and the omnibus feature Letters from the South, co-directed by Assarat, Tsai Ming-Liang, Tan Chui Mui, Royston Tan, Midi Z, and Sun Koh, and produced by Tan Chui Mui.

Says Assarat, “we are all friends who have collaborated during the productions of our previous films.  The new company is about extending that collaboration into distribution as well.  Our strategy is to start with our own titles while at the same time finding and introducing to the world the next generation of filmmakers.  We want to be the brand that comes to mind when you think of Southeast Asian cinema.”

The partners have hired Sompot Chidgasornpongs as General Manager.  Chidgasornpongs, along with Towira, Sukhum and Chatametikool will be present at Rotterdam and Berlin to introduce the new venture and meet with potential clients.

Upcoming projects from Mosquito Films include So Be It by Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, By the Time It Gets Dark by Anocha, Beer Girl by Wichanon Somumjarn and Railway Sleepers, the long-in-the-works debut feature by Sompot. It was previously known as Are We There Yet?

Current offerings from the company also include a collection of Apichatpong’s short films, going all the way back to his first in 1994, 0116643225059 to 2012’s Cactus River.

Funds from Rotterdam for Anocha and Apichatpong

Projects by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Anocha Suwichakornpong are among the 14 supported in the fall 2013 round of the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Both are being backed for script and project development.

Apichatpong's is Cemetery of Kings, his first feature-length film since 2010's Palme d'Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. Cemetery of Kings is about soldiers coming down with "sleeping sickness". It was previously pitched at last January's Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum.

Meanwhile, Anocha is seeking to move ahead with her sophomore directorial feature, By the Time It Gets Dark, which was previously supported by the Prince Claus Fund of CineMart in Rotterdam. It will be her followup to 2009's Mundane History (เจ้านกกระจอก, Jao Nok Krajok). By the Time It Gets Dark deals with a young woman in a factory who embarks on a quest to find her freedom.

(Via Film Business Asia)

IFFR 2014: Concrete Clouds among early selection for Tiger Awards

Having been supported by the festival's Hubert Bals Fund, it's no surprise that Lee Chatametikool's debut feature Concrete Clouds is among the "early Tigers" selected for competition in next year's International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Here's a teaser description from the IFFR:

Father jumps off the roof. The economy caves in. The childhood sweetheart remains out of reach. The nice girl next-door slides into prostitution. The elder brother knows better. The younger brother has no idea. Only a very special filmmaker could turn that into something light-footed and moving. Lee Chatametikool has worked as an editor and producer in New York and Bangkok. He edited films for emerging Thai directors including Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Concrete Clouds (2013) is his first feature film as a director.

Other early entries are Happily Ever After by Tatjana Bozic (Croatia), Vergiss mein ich (Lose My Self) by Jan Schomburg (Germany), Riocorrente (Riverrun) by Paulo Sacramento (Brazil) and Anatomy of a Paper Clip by Akira Ikeda (Japan, 2013).

Concrete Clouds makes its European premiere in Rotterdam, following its world premiere in Busan.

A Thai release is being eyed for sometime early next year.

Somewhere Only We Know joins the crowdfund

Wichanon Sumumjarn, the award-winning maker of Four Boys, White Whiskey and Grilled Mouse and the feature In April the Following Year, There was a Fire, is the latest director to turn to crowd-funding.

He's making a short called Somewhere Only We Know, about Bee, a country girl working in Bangkok. She spends a night with her ex-boyfriend.

The goal is raise 100,000 baht, or about $3,200. For $20, you get a DVD of the film. Donate $50 and you'll get a "special thanks" in the credits. Contribute $500 and you'll get executive producer credit.

Contributors will also be listed on the Facebook page for Wichanon's next feature project, Beer Girl.

For more details, check out the campaign page at Electric Eel Films.

Concrete Clouds, midnight movies and much more for Busan fest

Lee Chatametikool's Concrete Clouds is among the highlights of a generous Thai selection at this year's Busan International Film Festival.

The directorial-debut feature by Lee, an editor and post-production supervisor on many Thai films, Concrete Clouds makes its world premiere in the New Currents competition. It stars Ananda Everingham as a currency trader who returns to Thailand after his father commits suicide at the onset of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Janesuda Parnto and Apinya Sakuljaroensuk also star. Long in the works, Concrete Clouds was given a big boost in this year's round of the Busan fest's Asian Cinema Fund. Producers include Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Anocha Suwichakornpong, returning the favors Lee did for them in editing their films, along with Sylvia Chang and Soros Sukhum.

Also premiering in the New Currents competition is The Isthmus, a drama by Peerachai Kerdsint and Sopawan Boonnimitra. It's about an eight-year-old girl who suddenly loses her ability to speak Thai after her family's Burmese maid dies. "Believing her daughter is spiritually bound to the dead woman, Da and her child journey to a Thai-Burmese border town to ask the maid’s only relative to sever the connection," reads the program notes.

The Midnight Passion program offers a dose of crowd-pleasing Thai horror with the smash-hit ghost comedy Pee Mak and the international festival premiere of Last Summer (ฤดูร้อนนั้น ฉันตาย, Rue Doo Ron Nan Chan Tai), a three-part indie horror by Kittithat Tangsirikit, Sittisiri Mongkolsiri and Saranyoo Jiralak.

Saranyoo also has his 2012 drama Together making its international premiere in the Window on Asian Cinema program.

And, having premiered at the Venice fest, last year's Busan New Currents Award winner Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit has his Twitter movie Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy in the Window.

There's also Letters from the South, an omnibus about the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia. Aditya Assarat is among six directors taking part. Others are Tsai Ming-Liang, Malaysia's Tan Chui Mui, Singapore's Royston Tan and Sun Koh and Myanmar's Midi Z.

Also of interest, there's Australian director Kim Mordaunt's Lao family tale The Rocket, which has been a big hit on the festival circuit this year.

Regional highlights include Toilet Blues by Indonesia's Dirmawan Hatta in the New Currents, and in the Window on Asian Cinema, Dustin Nguyen's directorial debut Once Upon a Time in Vietnam, Lav Diaz' Norte, the End of History, Brillante Mendoza's Sapi, Adolf Alix Jr.'s Death March and Jerrold Tarog's If Only from the Philippines, the Malaysian short-film collection Ikal Mayang: Telling Women Stories, Anthony Chen's Ilo Ilo from Singapore and What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love from Indonesia's Mouly Surya.

The fest will open with Vara: A Blessing, the third film by Bhutanese former lama Khyentse Norbu.

The Busan International Film Festival runs from October 3 to 12.

Concrete Clouds, Beer Girl land in Asian Cinema Fund

Concrete Clouds, Lee Chatametikool's feature directorial debut, and Beer Girl, a new project by In April the Following Year, There Was a Fire director Wichanon Somumjarn, are among the projects awarded in this year's round of the Busan International Film Festival's Asian Cinema Fund.

Long in the works, Concrete Clouds receives post-production funding from ACF. According to Film Business Asia, filming has wrapped up and it's expected to be completed by October.

Here's the description from the ACF website:

Concrete Clouds is Lee Chatametikool's first feature film as director. He is an acclaimed editor for art-house and independent films of Thailand. His credit includes Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Uncle Boonmee who Can Recall his Past Lives. The story follows Mutt returning to Bangkok after his father commits suicide and meets his ex-girlfriend. The ex-girlfriend is facing financial difficulty and his young brother is in love with a girl next door. The characters in this film consist of a stock broker, a formal model, a market researcher, a prostitute and a student. This film looks like a commercial film, but it criticizes the social and financial crisis of Thailand, displaying a huge consumption society through the different characters. The unexpected combination of the seriousness of the Thailand independent film and the lightness of the commercial film works wonderfully well in the film and it comes as a delightful surprise.

Ananda Everingham stars along with Janesuda Parnto and Apinya Sakuljaroensuk. Producers include Apichatpong, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Sylvia Chang and Soros Sukhum.

Formerly known as Past Love, Lee's project has been in development since around 2010, and has been steadily making the rounds at the various markets and funds, with support also coming from Visions Sud Est and the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Wichanon's Beer Girl was named under the Script Development Fund for the Asian Film Academy. It's about a girl working at a bar who gets caught up in a crime and runs away with her lover.

The 18th Busan International Film Festival runs from October 3 to 12.

Apichatpong, sex and smashing watermelons at HAF 2013

A who's who of Thai indie filmmakers will take part in this year's Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul will be at the project market with Cemetery of Kings, "which follows a lonely middle-aged housewife and a soldier with a sleeping sickness".

Aditya Assarat, Sivaroj Kongsakul and Pramote Sangsorn combine for the three-segment sex omnibus Nude Project

And Anocha Suwichakornpong collaborates with Bosnian visual artist Sejla Kameric on ForeverAwhile, "composed of reconstructed scenes inspired by the fragments of their memories and lives".

Cemetery of Kings will be the first full-length feature from Apichatpong since his Cannes Palme d'Or-winning Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. He'll again be working with his Uncle Boonmee producers Simon Field and Keith Griffiths and his long-time actress Jenjira Widner, whose character is based on her recent real-life marriage to a retired German soldier. Here's the project synopsis from the HAF website:

In a small town in Thailand, 27 soldiers come down with a strange  case of sleeping sickness. An abandoned elementary school is converted to accommodate them. Jenjira Widner, a middle-age Thai lady who is married to  Frank, a retired soldier from the US, volunteers to tend to the sleeping soldiers.  She takes special interest in Itta who has no visiting relatives.

At the public library, Jenjira meets two phantoms who tell her about a buried cemetery of kings underneath the school/hospital. Jenjira is alarmed and feels more protective towards Itta. At the same time, the young soldier makes her heart flutter. Frank, her husband, becomes suspicious.

Jenjira’s fear and confusion trigger a strange dream that she shares with Itta, a  dream that involves a large unidentified creature on the Mekong River’s shore. Its  carcass leads Jenjira to Itta’s imaginary girlfriend, Phon, who revitalizes her with  the power of poems, remembering, and touching. At the shore, Jenjira fulfils her  fantasy of having a younger man begging for her love. Not far away, the dead animal is cut up. Its belly is full of marigold flowers in various stages of decay.

Check out the project synopsis from the HAF website for a detailed director's statement, in which he explains his inspiration comes from the "blanketing" influence of the military and the monarchy.

The omnibus Nude Project has Pramote, Aditya and Sivaroj each directing a segment based on a single theme: sex. "The filmmakers explore the nature of sexual desire and sexuality in different social contexts in Thai society," says the project statement, which gives detailed synopsis for each segment and further explanations from the directors, who take their inspirations from repressed and censored societal notions about sex and how parents set examples for sexual behavior.

Anocha collaborates with Sejla, a visual artist she met in Copenhagen. Their project, ForeverAwhile "will comprise a series of fragments, with each fragment’s narrative seemingly disconnected to one another. Some fragments will be short, lasting under a minute in duration, while some will be much longer. Some fragments will also be repeated, sometimes (but not always) with a slight variation."

Watermelons falling off the back of a truck and smashing on the road, footprints in the snow, hands setting a table and silent record player are among the images. The project, which aims to be a 60-minute film/visual art crossover, is produced by Copenhagen's DOX:LAB, the Center for Contemporary Arts, Sarajevo and Anocha's own Electric Eel Films. Read the project PDF for lots more details.

The Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) runs from March 18 to 20 as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong.

(Via Film Business Asia, The Hollywood Reporter)

IFFR 2013: Presenting Lublae and more

A still from Lublae, the one-minute leader by Anocha Sukwichakornpong.

The International Film Festival Rotterdam is now underway. As always, it's an important platform for Thai independent filmmakers.

In addition to two features – Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit's 36 and Visra Vichit-Vadakan's Karaoke Girl in the main Tiger Awards competition plus Pimpaka Towira's single-shot funeral The Mother in the Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films – there are several other Thai shorts.

There's a special one-minute leader that will precede each HBF Harvest film at IFFR, Lublae, a weird sci-fi short directed by a past Tiger Award winner, Mundane History's Anocha Suwichakornpong.

Here's more about it from the festival website:

Lublae is a district in northern Thailand that used to be known as the "hidden" land, due to its remote location; "lub" means "hidden" in Thai. Others say that Lublae is a derivative of Lublang, the name of the forest in the area. "Lang" means "evening" in the language of Lanna (an old kingdom in present-day northern Thailand) as the forest was so dense, it often got dark before sunset. Legend has it that the residents of Lublae were all women and that they tolerated no lies, no matter how small.

The ten women who appear in Lublae are friends of the director, all of whom work in the arts: among them are a film director, an architect, an actress. They walk through a field, torches in hand, searching for something. The beams of light from their torches briefly illuminate the soon-to-be dark landscape. The director likes to think of them as modern-day usherettes – while these ten women may be searchers, they also show us the way.

Watch it online at the IFFR website.

Anocha is also taking part in the Spectrum Shorts program with fellow Electric Eel and IFFR veteran Wichanon Sumumjarn (In April the Following Year, There was a Fire). Together they present Overseas, a 16-minute short in the Leaving Traces program. It's about a young Burmese woman working in a seafood-packing factory who is faced with pretty serious dilemma.

Another IFFR vet, Jakwaral Nilthamrong (Unreal Forest) presents Zero Gravity, a "visually and dramatically complex story set simultaneously in the present and the past, [which] returns to where a bizarre hostage situation ended in blood over 10 years ago. Almost every conflict in or on the border of Thailand seems to be dealt with."

Also of Thailand interest is Poor Folk, Myanmar-Taiwan-based Midi Z's followup to Return to Burma. It's a look at lawlessness along the Thai-Myanmar border and follows a guy as he's trafficked to Bangkok to begin a life of crime.

The International Film Festival Rotterdam runs through February 3.