Bangkok International Film Festival to be held in September

The Bangkok International Film Festival, tainted by a bribery scandal and suffering from organizational problems, has been shifted to September, according to both Variety and Hollywood Reporter.

Though the exact dates have not yet been set, the festival will likely coincide with the Bangkok Entertainment Expo, which is being put together by the Commerce Ministry's Department of Export Promotion (DEP). This dovetails with plans for the DEP to take over the budget for the festival, which has been run by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

The TAT is still at the helm of this year's fest, though all the organizing will be done by the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand (FNFAT) and the Thai Film Directors' Association. They have stood ready since March to get to work on the festival, but have been met with delays caused by much bureaucratic hemming and hawing. Here is more from the Variety story by Kong Rithdee:

In its latest incarnation the BKKIFF will be hosted jointly by the FNFAT and the Thai Film Directors' Association, said Yongyoot Thongkongtoon, president of the directors guild.

The TAT, will instead be the main sponsor. "But the operations will be responsibility of FNFAT and the directors' assoc, and we may have to find additional sponsors to support the event," said Thongkongtoon.

Jaruek Kanjaruek, prexy of FNFAT was named as Festival President, while Tongkongtoon will serve as artistic director. The programming team will be led by filmmaker Pimpaka Towira and Mai Meksawan.

Few details about the fest's budget have been locked down, but it seems likely that the TAT will chip in around $750,000, down from last year's $1 million.

Hollywood Reporter's Joel Gershon reports that the festival will have an international competition, but Yongyoot wouldn't reveal any jurors' names (probably because he doesn't know who they are yet).

Pimpaka and Mai are partners at Extra Virgin, the collective of independent filmmakers that is organizing the Director's Screen series, which debuts next week with the Thailand premiere of Aditya Assarat's Wonderful Town. Pimpaka's own The Truth Be Told: The Cases Against Supinya Klangnarong is the second film in the series. A former film critic, Pimpaka was the programmer of the Bangkok Film Festival (note no "international") in 2001, when that event was organized by Nation Multimedia.

Nation Multimedia and the TAT joined in 2002 2003 to organize the first Bangkok INTERNATIONAL Film Festival, but split after that inaugural year. That same year, The Nation went on to organize the 1st World Film Festival of Bangkok, which it has held in October since 2003. This year's 6th World Film Festival of Bangkok is set for October 24 to November 2 at Paragon Cineplex.

Further tightening up the local film fest calendar is the Thai Film Foundation's Thai Short Film & Video Festival, which is planned for the end of August.

Worldwide, the Bangkok International Film Festival and its film market face competition from the Pusan International Film Festival, set for October 2 to 10. Pusan and Hong Kong are the primary film market destinations in Asia, so attracting companies to Bangkok is going to be a tough sell.

The Bangkok International Film Festival (BKKIFF) had traditionally been held around January or February, but was postponed to July last year after a shake-up in management in which the TAT broke its contract with Los Angeles-based Festival Management, which had programmed the festival since 2003.

In December, the owners of Festival Management, Hollywood producer Gerald Green and his wife Patrica, were charged by the U.S. Justice Department for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, accused of paying US$1.7 million in bribes to a person the Justice Department identified as the "Governor" of the TAT. Until 2006, that person was Juthamas Siriwan. The Greens have pleaded not guilty and their trial is set for sometime in the fall. Juthamas, meanwhile, has been the subject of a probe by Thailand's Department of Special Investigation, which has turned its case over to the National Counter Corruption Commission.

Bangkok is Bollywood, Bollywood is Bangkok

The Indian International Film Academy (IIFA) Awards are coming to Bangkok from June 6 to 8, promising an extravaganza of Indian arts, industry and culture.

With 1,000s of stars and industry bigwigs jetting in , it's going to be so huge that it's hard to get a handle on just what will be happening when. Like: I'd like to see this year's acclaimed, fun-sounding musical Om Shanti Om (trailer), which is up for some awards. But I don't think they are actually showing any of the movies.

Mainly, I think this awards ceremony and weekend of conferences is just a big junket for all the Bollywood glitterati, to get out of India, jet off to some foreign land and make the local press and Indian diaspora hyperventilate from exposure to too much glamour. Since the IIFA Awards started in 2000, it has been hosted by London, followed by Sun City, South Africa; Genting Highlands, Malaysia; Johannesburg, Singapore, Amsterdam, Dubai and Yorkshire -- anywhere except India. I guess that's why the awards are "international".

One major event will be the world premiere of Sarkar Raj, the new movie by Ram Gopal Varma, and bringing together Abhishek Bacchan, his wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek's father, the legendary leading man Amitabh Bacchan.

Amitabh was in Bangkok last week to make the official announcement about the IIFA. He's the IIFA's "brand ambassador". He had this to say:

When we sit inside the darkened hall of a cinema hall, we never question what the nationality, the colour, class, or creed of the person sitting next to us is.

"We watch the same product in front of us. We are shaken up by the similar emotion, share the fear, perhaps, laugh at some of the jokes that appear and sing the same song.

"Where in the world does this one roof of integration exist except in the world of cinema and I am really proud to be a part of this element that really believes in bringing communities together rather than dividing it."

In another story by the Daily Xpress, Amitabh talked about the prospect of acting with his son and new daughter-in-law.

Ram Gopal Varma has said the casting of the three was intentional, but having the family working together has made for a much more intense drama.

"He's absolutely right; it's one of the proudest moments in my life. As a father, it's great watching a child grow up to be taller and better than I was."

Bollywood films were widely popular in Bangkok during the 1970s, among them Sholay, which I've recently seen on the shelf at a local DVD store, issued by local label Triple X.

In the past year, Bollywood Thai has been bringing in newly released Hindi-language films for a limited screening in Bangkok, opening the same day they do in India. Their most recent screening was Tashan a couple of weeks ago, but I missed it. Looks like fun. But there will be others.

See also:

• Amitabh Bachhan's blog

(Photo via Daily Xpress/Anant Chantarasoot)

Review: Fight or Flight

• Directed by and starring Peter J McCarthy
• Co-directed and cinematography by Shane Sutton
• Released in 2007, reviewed on complimentary screener DVD
• Rating: 4/5

Sometime ago, I came across a video of what was purported to be the "oldest Thai boxing footage ever", in which scenes for a documentary feature called Fight or Flight was embedded.

That led to the director and subject of Fight or Flight, Peter J. McCarthy, to get in touch with me, and, in an effort to get me to actually watch his film, he sent me the DVD.

I put the DVD on the stack of unwatched discs to watch at a more opportune time. But as the months went by, uncertainty about when that time might happen crept up. I decided to pop the movie in and see what it had to offer.

I wished I'd watched it sooner.

Fight or Flight is a spiritual journey of a man in search of his inner self. A 30-something guy from Ireland, McCarthy states in the film that he'd been in a street fight and had a falling out with his brother, and so came to Thailand -- like a lot of foreigners do -- in a bid to change his life. Why did he fight? Could he fight? Muay Thai seemed to offer the answers, and for the lanky Irishman, all muscle and bone, it seemed like a perfect fit.

The film follows his training and odyssey of self discovery that crisscrosses Thailand, starting at a training camp in Chiang Mai, to a gym in Bangkok, then to the ring in Koh Samui, back up to Chiang Mai for an abortive silent retreat in a Buddhist temple, and then to Northeast Thailand.

Visceral and stylized, a trippy sound design is coupled with repeated clips of a worm and a gecko being eaten by ants, as well as stock war footage of troops in trenches, B-52 bombers and atomic explosions. The film references The Wild Bunch (the ants!) as well as Apocalypse Now, with McCarthy specifically referring to the "heart of darkness" that he'd stumbled upon in searching for his soul. Seems he found it, and didn't like what it turned out to be. Chiang Mai. Shit. Still only in Chiang Mai. There is a marked contrast between the glowing, happy Peter McCarthy at the beginning of the film to the broken shell of man who is confessing a nervous breakdown by the end.

Like young Grasshopper in Kung Fu, McCarthy drops in at Wat Suan Dok and asks a monk, Phra Saneh Infong, why men must fight, why there is violence. McCarthy -- and all humans -- know the answers, but sometimes we have to hear them anyway.

"These feelings we get from thinking, seeing, hearing," the monk says. "Fighting in our world, is plan of men, not plan of God."

Not wishing any more introspection, McCarthy turns his eye to the outside world, hopping on his motorcycle with his backpack and hitting the road for Northeast Thailand for "a
journey into the depths of Thai culture."

Interspersed between shots of him training and fighting in the ring, as well as scenes of other fights, there's a look at children Muay Thai fighters, which is controversial in the West, as well as the also the controversial bloodsport of cockfighting.

Answers to these prickly issues are difficult, but the film seems to defend them because they are part of Thai culture. For some children, the sport officials and a long-time farang boxer-trainer conclude, Muay Thai is a way out of poverty, and offers a lifetime opportunity for many children and young men. I wonder: How is it different from Little League baseball or school sports? As for cockfighting, well the enthusiast interviewed says a fighting rooster actually has a better life than a chicken that's going to be eaten -- the former living for two to three years, and the former just a matter of a few weeks or months.

There will be differing viewpoints, but those are subjects for other documentaries.

Back to McCarthy. The conclusion for him after 19 months in Thailand, in which he "cracked", seems kind of anti-climactic. At 78 minutes, including end credits, the film feels too short. Back in Dublin, what were his thoughts? What was he experiencing? Another 10 minutes or so perhaps could have covered that.

I guess that's the power of this documentary -- to make me care about a guy enough to wonder what happens next. Maybe that will be the subject of another film.


More information:

• Official site
• Trailer at YouTube

The Coffin being carried to Cannes

Reports that there are no Thai films at Cannes this year are turning out to have been greatly exaggerated. Not only is the Anglo-Thai production, Soi Cowboy, an official selection in the Un Certain Regard program, the Marché du Film will be having screenings of The Coffin hosted by Arclight Films' Asian division, Easternlight.

The Coffin is the new film by Beautiful Boxer and Pleasure Factory director Ekachai Uekrongtham. Produced by Pantham Thongsang with backing from Thailand and Hong Kong, this co-production stars Ananda Everingham (that makes six films for him this year), Karen Mok (pictured), Andrew Lin, Napakprapha Nakpasit and Aki Shibuya.

The story is about a guy (Ananda) who undergoes the Thai ritual of lying in a coffin to change his bad luck, but things don't work as planned, and he and his lady friend (Mok) are confronted with all kinds of terrifying supernatural incidents.

See also:

• The Coffin is delivered to Hong Kong, China

(Via 24 Frames per Second)

Chocolate out on DVD in Thailand, coming to theaters in Singapore

The DVD of Chocolate is out in Thailand. A two-disc special edition was just released this week after a single-disc DVD and VCD release a week or two ago.

There are no English subtitles. But, I am leaning toward the notion they are not really necessary for this film. After the first half hour or so, there is little need for dialogue as Jeeja gets wound up and moves from one setpiece to the next, leaving scores of injured men in her wake. The sound of pain and suffering is universal. And anyway, some of the dialogue is in English.

The heavy security deployed during the film's theatrical run in Thailand some Bangkok cinemas is paying off. Sahamongkol's strategy for its high-profile films is to employ its own detail of frowning, uptight, black-shirted security guards. After you pass through a metal detector and have your bags given a cursory glance by the multiplex's own staff, when you reach the doors of the cinema, Sahamongkol's own crew is there to check your ticket and give a bag a more thorough look. Just try to smile or crack a joke with these guys. I dare you. They are all business, and are very focused. Some places even had another metal detector.

When Tom Yum Goong was released in Thailand in 2005, it wasn't long after that bootleg discs of the film began appearing on the streets. I haven't seen that this time around for Chocolate -- oh sure, there's probably still some piracy going on, it's just not as overt as before.

Not long after the film leaves cinemas, the DVDs and VCDs are released, and in Thailand the prices are kept relatively low. At the 7-Eleven in my office building, the VCD of Chocolate is 99 baht -- about US$3. It's a tempting impulse buy, right there at the cash register. The initial single-disc DVD was retailing at Mangpong for 169 baht -- not much more, less even in some cases -- than the price of admission to the movie. Now the two-disc special edition is out already, and it's going for around 350 baht. I have been tempted to pick up the VCD, though the chapters of the DVD do make it handier to hit the highlights.

Prices are considerably higher if you mail-order Chocolate from such places as eThaiCD or HK Flix, because they have to pay to import the discs. And you still don't get subtitles, but if you want what you want and you want it now, well there you go.

Chocolate has been playing in Hong Kong, where it opened at No. 2, according to Box Office Mojo. And next week, it opens in Singapore. In both these territories, it is entirely possible that an English-subtitled DVD might not be far behind. But maybe not.

See also:

• Jeeja profile
  
• Chocolate rated Category IIB in Hong Kong
  
• Chocolate ready to begin international onslaught
  
• Three more Jeeja clips
  
• Chocolate star on the talk show circuit: The clips
  
• Chocolate on Valentine's Day
  
• Bittersweet Chocolate
• Weinsteins gobble up Chocolate
• Another bite of Chocolate, other Thai films at the European Film Market
• Review: Chocolate
  
• Chocolate: The press premiere
  
• Chocolate star has a new name, but just call her Jeeja
  
• Chocolate website goes live, really
• Chocolate star on the talk show circuit
• Chocolate release date moved up to February 6, going head-to-head with Stephen Chow's CJ7
• Chocolate: The comic book
• Promo reel for Chocolate

12 Begin, 13 Beloved available on DVD from Hong Kong

Following its release on DVD in Singapore and in the U.S., 13 Beloved has finally been released on DVD in Hong Kong. It's available from DDD House for around US$7, which makes it a lower-cost option than the other two releases. It has English subtitles. They also have an even-lower-priced option: VCD, with Chinese and English subtitles. (Gee, that synposis on the DDD page has familiar ring to it. Hey! That's the one I wrote when I reviewed the film!)


Browsing the Thai titles, I see there is also 12 Begin, the short-film prequel to 13 Beloved. I'm not even sure this is available in Thailand. The DVD doesn't have English subtitles, but because I haven't seen this, I'm not even sure they are necessary.

(Thanks Logboy!)

There is a Thai film at Cannes

Though it doesn't show up on a country search of the Cannes' festival website (but then none of the 2008 selections are appearing yet), Soi Cowboy has been selected for the Un Certain Regard section at the 61st Cannes Film Festival.

It is by Thailand-based British director Thomas Clay, and is produced by an Anglo-Thai company, De Warrenne Pictures. Soi Cowboy is set in Thailand, has Thai actors and was made by a Thai crew that includes cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, who has shot Apichatpong Weerasethakul's films. It is about a farang who has impregnated a bargirl from Bangkok's Soi Cowboy red-light district.

Here is the official synopsis:

In Bangkok, a corpulent European man and a young, pregnant Thai woman live together in near silence. His large body stands out in marked contrast to her tiny frame... She likes him, but sleeping with him is a duty. Out in the countryside, her brother, a teenage mafia enforcer, is employed to deliver their older brother's head.

DeWarrenne has produced a string of under-the-radar Anglo-Thai films, including Ghost of Mae Nak, The Elephant King and Butterfly Man. Of these, I've only seen Butterfly Man, a sometimes lyrical, loopy romance starring Stuart Laing as a British backpacker who falls in love with a masseuse (Napakprapha "Mamee" Nakprasitte).

The Bangkok Post's Kong Rithdee has more about Soi Cowboy in a story in today's Real Time section (cache). He spoke to producer Tom Waller:

It is pretty much a Thai movie, though the director is British," says Waller. "The whole film was shot here. It's in English and Thai - and in the second half, in a strong Isan dialect -- and the cast and crew, except the main guy, are Thai.

"We want to release the film in Thailand. But right now we'll have to wait and see the reaction from Cannes."

Review: Thewada Tha Ja Theng (Theng's Angel)

• Directed by Wirote Thongsew
• Story by and produced by Adirek "Uncle" Wataleela
• Starring Pongsak Pongsuwan (Theng Therdterng), Kotee Aramboy, Bongkot Kongmalai
• Released in Thailand cinemas on April 30, 2008
• Rating: 3/5

Cherubic, child-like comic actor Kotee Aramboy might be clad in white and playing an angel, but the wishes he grants to the hapless Pongsak "Theng" Pongsuwan are postively Faustian. Kotee might as well be dressed in red, have horns and be carrying a pitchfork.

Maybe that will be the sequel.

In Thewada Tha Ja Theng (The Angel Must be Crazy, or Theng's Angel), Theng plays Gluay, a "shabby extra in a likay play". He is ridiculed and beaten by the rubber-faced leading actor of the folk-opera troupe and others in the crew, but the downtrodden guy does have at least one friend -- Oom (Namtam Butsarun), a young woman who brings him noodles.

But Theng only has eyes for Fah (Bongkot Kongmalai), a superstar actress. And when Theng sees Fah wreck her motorcycle and comes to her rescue -- only to find he'd stumbled onto a movie set -- his obsession kicks into overdrive.

Theng also has a fan -- an angel from the shrine of unwanted spirit houses -- who comes to see him perform every night, and when the desperate Theng prays to bring Fah into his life, the angel is there to answer that prayer by blowing on Theng's face (or spitting water at him).

The film is then a mercifully fast-paced succession of different situations, each designed to make use of Theng's comic versatility and keep attention deficit disorder-suffering audiences happy. From a robber in a convenience store, to a ghost-busting policeman/monk (don't ask), to a superstar actor, a hospitalized old man, a wealthy tycoon and even his own murderous doppleganger, Theng plays it up for laughs, with the members of the likay troupe (including veteran actress Viyada Umarin) in roles in the various scenarios.

All were designed by the angel to have Theng win Fah's heart, but they all end in disaster.


The best sequence involves a pair of ghosts who have kidnapped Fah. It even manages to be a little scary. Producer Adirek "Uncle" Wataleela and his comedy co-hort Boonthin Thuaykaew again appear as a duo of bumbling policemen also caught up in the ghost plot. Set in apartment 906 (rather than 609), it's essentially a parody of Buppha Rahtree, which introduced the two cops that have since appeared in several other films. Buppha Rahtree director Yuthlert Sippapak himself makes a cameo.

For her part, busty bombshell actress Bongkot plays along good naturedly with whatever Theng and company have to dish out, but there are a couple of moments when she can't keep her 1,000-watt smile under control because she's laughing too hard. It's like watching the players on Saturday Night Live lose their composure during a sketch. The difference here is that the director could have called "cut" and ordered another take. Perhaps he did, but still couldn't find a usable take.

Also telling is deleted scenes and alternative takes -- many of which turned up in the trailer -- play over the end credits, and easily outshine much of the film. These feature Theng in various guises, including Elvis, which he played before in Yuthlert's Killer Tattoo, and as Rambo, in which he shoots his own cameraman.

Despite a preponderance of fart jokes, homoerotic humor and the stock gay drag queen, Theng's Angel has a wholesome message about keeping your head out of the clouds. Keep your expectations modest and you might be entertained by this as well.


See also:

• May Day, May Day, it's Theng
• Trailer at YouTube
• Official site

(Cross-published at The Nation Weblog)

Deal tied up for Art of the Devil remake

I have never understood the allure of the Art of the Devil film series -- the main premise being revenge dished out by means of horrendous, disfiguring torture at the hands of an enraged black-magic sorceress.

I haven't seen any of the films. And though the current one in the series, Art of the Devil III (Long Khong 2) is still lurking about in local cinemas, I don't think I'm about to start -- unless star Napakpapha "Mamee" Nakprasit comes to me right now, forcibly binds me and drags me away from the keyboard, takes me to a screening room, straps me to a chair, forces my eyelids open and sits next to me with eyedrops to keep my peepers moist as I watch the film.

But a whole lot of other people are going to get a taste of the series when the remakes start. Yes, as if the originals weren't torture enough, there will be remakes. Following in the ghostly footsteps of Shutter and The Eye, Five Star Production is getting in on the remake game, selling the Art of the Devil franchise to Cerenzie-Peters Productions.

Bloody Disgusting was the first with the news:

CP will begin by focusing on the second installment [Art of the Devil II, aka Long Khong], which featured a group of high school kids who fall victim to supernatural tattoos.

The latest movie, released April 3 in Thailand, earned more than $2.5 million during its first weekend to lead the domestic box office. That beat out the $2.1 million raked in by Jumper and the $1.8 million grossed by 10,000 BC.

Devil, which cost less than $1 million to make, has already been sold to more than 40 countries.

CP will produce the project via its genre division, which just signed a $100 million production financing partnership with Ghostrider Entertainment. Thompson, who recently joined CP to head the new genre arm, was responsible for acquiring the franchise from Bangkok-based Five Star Production, one of Thailand's oldest production and distribution houses.

Colin Geddes will co-produce. Geddes is also the film programmer of the Midnight Madness selection at the Toronto International Film Festival where he has introduced genre directors such as Eli Roth (Cabin Fever), Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes), Prachya Pinkaew (Ong Bak), and Takeshi Miike (Ichi the Killer). Last year's selection included the world premieres of George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead and Dario Argento's Mother of Tears.

"There is a wealth of material that we feel culturally translates extremely well from the pan-Asian regions, and we feel we have an amazing franchise on our hands," Peters said.

Yuthlert Sippapak's ghost comedy-drama Buppha Rahtree was another of Geddes' choices for Midnight Madness.

The Art of the Devil series began in 2004 with Khon Len Khong, directed by Thanit Jitnukul and starring Supaksorn Chaimongkol.

Art of the Devil II came out in 2005, directed by a crew of seven directors that dubbed themselves the Ronin Team. They included screenwriter Kongkiat Khomsiri, who has since gone on to pen The Unseeable for Wisit Sasanatieng and direct Muay Thai Chaiya. Called Long Khong in Thai, Art of the Devil II was a different storyline than the first film, but had similar themes of a female using torturous black magic to exact revenge. This was the film that introduced the fiery actress Mamee to the series, and she garnered much critical acclaim for her performance. It's this film, about a teacher taking black-magic revenge on some students who pulled a prank on her, that will be focused on for the remake.

Art of the Devil III (Long Khong 2) is actually a prequel to the second film, showing how the teacher Phanor came to acquire her sorcery skills.

The first two original Art of the Devil films are available as a box set with English subtitles and optional English-dubbed soundtrack.

More information:

• Art of the Devil 3 attacks the box office
  
• Extended gore-filled trailer, uncensored scenes for Art of the Devil 3
  
• Three new posters for Art of the Devil 3
  
• English-subtitled trailer for Art of the Devil 3
  
• This is torture: Art of the Devil 3 trailer
• Upcoming Thai film: Art of the Devil 3
• Official website

(Via Twitch and Kaiju Shakedown)

Tiger Blade, Vengeance are the first Thai Blu-ray titles

I have been awaiting word of the first Thai films to go to Blu-ray, and they come from unexpected quarters -- Mono Film's B-movie fantasy-actioners, The Tiger Blade and Vengeance.

Both are available for pre-order from HK Flix, and Amazon has just Tiger Blade for now.

I have not yet delved into Blu-ray personally. Now that the HD-DVD vs Blu-ray format war is over, I know what direction to head, but may wait a bit more for the prices of players to level off again.

I had expected the first Blu-ray action to come from the Weinsteins' Dragon Dynasty line, but I'll take The Tiger Blade. The tagline alone wins me over: "When kick ass cops can’t get the job done, bring in the kick ass magic!" Plus, I gotta love the box blurb, "pure guilty pleasure" from Twitch's own Todd Brown.

Vengeance, also on regular DVD, is a bungle in the jungle, with killer bees, ravenous geckoes, life-sucking sirens, a giant snake and scarier monsters.

(Thanks Logboy!)