A truckload of new blogs and websites

It's a mostly lonely and mighty unforgiving world I've found myself living in here, being one of the few bloggers who regularly writes in English about Thai cinema. So when new folks come on the scene, I want to be welcoming.

Here's a few new blogs worth reading:

• Bangkok1080.asia -- This website was started about two months ago by a young Bangkok-based German man named Denis who was frustrated at the lack of a single website that had a comprehensive database of Thai movies. He's just getting started at plugging the massive gaps that exist. The website's name, as you home-video geeks know, refers to the resolution of high-definition video. And Bangkok 1080 is concerned with Thai movies that are available for home video. One of the website's helpful resources is a list of English subtitle files that can be mated up with those orphaned Thai films that have never been released on English-friendly DVD. The most recent addition is Queens of Langkasuka. The idea is to encourage people to buy Thai DVDs instead of getting pirated torrents or waiting forever for the movies to be released in English-friendly countries. I have yet to try it myself but the instructions make it seem pretty simple. The site also offers reviews of films and DVDs, comprehensive profiles of Thai movies, trailers and other news about Thai cinema. I've already had a few posts here that I wrote because I saw something first on Bangkok 1080. Head on over and have a look.
• Southeast Asian Film Studies Institute -- In the first post of his blog, film scholar Tilman Baumgärtel writes that before he moved to the Philippines in 2004, the only Southeast Asian film that had seen was the Singaporean-Filipino grindhouse flick Cleopatra Wong (which is a pretty good introduction if you ask me). As he taught at the Film Institute of the University of the Philippines, he found he had "access to one of the best collections of Philippine movies anywhere" and he soon became immersed in the cinema of that country and other Southeast Asian nations. Now, he's headed to Cambodia, a country that can surely use his expertise and enthusiasm for filmmaking. So far he has postings about the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma. Eventually, I expect he'll find a way to delve into the cinema of Laos (not to mention Brunei and East Timor). Everyone, please welcome Tilman!
• Dirtii Laundry -- This blog featuring gossip on Thai entertainment figures has actually been around awhile, but it was only recently that we agreed to trade links and I've featured it in the left sidebar of "Other News and Views" where I group some of my favorite blogs from mainly Thailand. Dirtii Laundry's recent post about the recently-shorn actor-musician Pe Arak saying he'll pose in Speedo swimming briefs if he's paid 30 million baht is a classic. Thing is about Pe is he's the typical skinny-ass rock star and would look terrible in a Speedo suit, so who'd want to see him like that? Head on over to Dirtii Laundry for more juicy bits.

A couple other housekeeping-type notes:

• I've recently added an "Other Film Views" widget to the right sidebar. This features five film blogs that I consistently enjoy reading and that I think my readership will benefit from seeing. Actually, I have more than five favorite film bloggers, but I can't include them all. So please don't feel sore if I don't feature your blog or website there. From time to time, as the mood strikes me, I may rotate one or two of the blogs out of the mix and substitute another favorite or two.
• On the right sidebar I also added a link roll of Thai film companies and indie filmmakers. It's a work in progress. If you're a Thai filmmaker or run a film company in Thailand and think you'll benefit from having a link on my blog, let me know and I'll consider adding it.

And, a quick thanks to Sumat Sivasiamphai and the staff of the Bangkok Post's Guru magazine, which for its May 8-14 edition featured this blog in its story "Soi Blogs" featuring "10 Thailand-based weblogs worth checking out". What's odd about Guru is that their stories don't seem to be carried on their website. Very strange for a magazine that is offered for free in coffeeshops around the city. I hope they are someday allowed to offer more of their content online. Several of the blogs featured in the story are blogs that I link to here and regularly read, including the news website 2Bangkok.com, Lyn's Lakorns (a place to enjoy a slap and a kiss), the lifestyle website Absolutely Bangkok and the excellent music blog Monrakplengthai. (Also, thanks to Lekha for pointing out the Guru piece.)

Lastly, I want to again mention The Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project, which I featured awhile back. That blog, which has extensive photo essays of the dead and dying single-screen cinemas of Thailand and the surrounding countries is a treasure-trove that warrants daily reading. Hardly a day goes by when I'm not left slack-jawed in amazement at the work there. Keep it up.

(Photo via Flickr)

Filmmaker reviving a lost Cambodian martial art

While Tony Jaa has paid tribute to his Khmer Surin heritage by incorporating Cambodian martial arts into his style, in Cambodia there is a filmmaker who is working to revive an ancient martial art, and making low-budget movies that are 100 percent Cambodian.

Norak Soeng, 21, is a martial artist and a filmmaker, skilled in the art of Bokator, the Cambodian martial art that descended from an older form known as khorm yuth. Here's more from a Phnom Penh Post story:

In 2006, Norak Soeng established Tomarak Club Khorm Martial Arts in an effort to promote the ancient fighting style of khorm yuth through film.

"I established the club to produce films that depict ancient Khmer culture and khorm yuth martial arts," Norak Soeng said. "Khorm yuth is the first traditional Khmer fighting style that existed prior to labok kaatou [or Bokator], but most Cambodians interested in martial arts have not heard of the style."

Norak Soeng's debut film, which he says won first prize at the Apsara Television film contest in 2008, was made on a modest budget of US$400.

The 30-minute film titled Norak Soeng Sena Khorm Yuth, or Strong Bodyguard, is inspired by Hong Kong's kung fu genre, but with a dose of Khmer comedy.

"I hope the stunts in the film will inspire youth to become more interested in the rich culture [of khorm yuth]," Norak Soeng said.

Read the whole article for a master's explanation of khorm yuth and Bokator.

There's also further description of the film and the martial-arts moves at the expat blog, A Pint and a Cupcake, which covered a recent screening of Norak Soeng's films:

The movies were pretty funny, and the live voice-over also caused some laughs (classic lines such as "You bastard!" and "I love you too, babe"). The action highlights were probably the flying head kick to knock a guy off a motorbike (no stunt doubles here), and the flying knee lock around the head followed by a roll down some stairs.

Norak Soeng is at work on another film, Keatkor Kbachkun Hanuman Neakreach (The Monkey and Naga Fighter), due for release later this year.

(Photo by Tom Hunter/Phnom Penh Post)

Six premieres at Cannes Film Market

Although there's only one Thai film that's been officially selected for the Cannes Film Festival -- Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Nymph, playing in the Un Certain Regard competition -- there are several more making premieres of some kind in the Cannes Film Market.

Stephen Cremin, programmer of the Udine Far East Film Festival and correspondent for Screen International, has sent me the list. Here's the premieres listed:

• Best of Times (Kwaam Jam San Dtae Rak Chan Yaao) by Yongyoot Thongkongtoon (GTH)
• Meat Grinder by Tiwa Moeithaisong (Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand)
• Nymph by Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Cannes Film Festival)
• Power Kids by Krissanapong Rachata (Sahamongkol)
• The Sanctuary by Thanapon Maliwan (Birch Tree Entertainment)
• The Scout by Pleo Sirisuwan (Golden Network)

They could be "world", "international" or "European" (or maybe just "French") premieres, not that I put too much stock in the meaning of "premiere" anymore, especially when it concerns a market screening.

Other Thai films at the Cannes Film Market are:

• Coming Soon (Program Na Winyarn Arkad) by Sophon Sakdaphisit (GTH)
• Fireball by Thanakorn Pongsuwan (Golden Network)

GTH will also unveil a 20-minute clip of Haa Phrang or Phobia 2, which I think is a tentative English title. Surely the clever folks at GTH are going to come up with a new number-based pun like they did for See Phrang or 4Bia. And since Banjong Pisanthanakun is the only director credited, I'm guessing this would perhaps be Banjong's segment for the five-film omnibus that will reunite the four 4Bia directors plus one more surprise director.

(Thanks Stephen!)

Phuket Film Festival 'may be called off' due to security and scheduling conflict

A security clampdown ahead of a regional government summit and conflicting dates with another film festival may cause this year's Phuket Film Festival to be canceled, according to a citizens group calling itself "We Care About Phuket".

The Phuket Film Festival is scheduled for June 4 to 11, but the the on-again, off-again World Comedy Film Festival is set for Bangkok from June 10 to 16, overlapping the Phuket fest by two days. The "ASEAN Plus Six" government summit is set for June 13 and 14 in Phuket, but there is already a "scary army presence" to ensure that the ASEAN meeting goes off without disruption from anti-government protesters.

Scott Rosenberg, the director of the Phuket Film Festival, says he's not part of the "We Care About Phuket" group and had nothing to do with its statement issued today, calling on people to write protest letters to the Tourism Authority of Thailand. "They are independent associates of mine on Phuket who are pissed off."

Rosenberg says he is "disturbed" about the Phuket festival's scheduling conflict with Bangkok's inaugural World Comedy Film Festival, which was first mentioned in January and initially set for sometime around the end of April or early May but then postponed, presumably due to the political unrest. But Rosenberg says he suspects there's another reason for the schedule change.

"The overlap with us is stupid," says Rosenberg. "TAT knew when we operated -- we are on their website. But I think one reason [the comedy festival postponement] was done was to 'borrow' some of our movies and 'stars'."

The Phuket fest, which has had its date set since last July, would have a package of recent Taiwanese films, including comedies, and several Taiwanese film stars and filmmakers as guests. The World Comedy fest is sponsored by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and organized by the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand, with plans to host comedy films from around the world, focusing on comedians from Thailand and other Asian countries.

Meanwhile, Rosenberg says he's still awaiting word on what level of funding will be provided to the Phuket festival, even though it's three weeks away. The festival was first held in October 2007 but took a hiatus last year due to the poor economy.

"It really is sad that TAT committed 14 million baht to Comedy and less than 1 million to us. I understand the politics of why this happened BUT the overlap now is a slap in the face not only to we organizers but I think to all people on Phuket. "

The Phuket festival would also have a gala opening with the Asian premiere of Bitter/Sweet, a Hollywood-Thai co-production with several prominent Thai actors.

But even bigger-name "100 percent confirmed" festival guests would be Oscar-winning actor Adrian Brody, whose recent film Cadillac Records would make its Asian premiere, and two-time Oscar nominee director Gus Van Sant, whose latest film Milk would be shown at the Phuket fest as part of a package of alternative-lifestyle films.

And that leads to a bigger problem than the overlapping dates of a rival film festival -- draconian security measures ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting, which was rescheduled for June 13 and 14 and relocated to Phuket after the regional gathering had been disrupted by red-shirt anti-government protesters on April 11 in Pattaya. The protesters then moved back to Bangkok, where they blockaded streets until they were dispersed by the military in the "Black Songkran" conflict. The government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva doesn't want a repeat of any that, so a massive influx of military force has been built up and there are security checkpoints and roadblocks all over the island. Regional leaders attending the summit might have their own armed bodyguards.

The summit is tentatively set for June 13 to 14 at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa. The meeting would comprise the heads of government from 10 Southeast Asian countries plus delegations from China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

"My concern is quite frankly the big guys coming from Hollywood," Rosenberg says. "Director Gus Van Sant is coming with three of his director-actor buddies. They want to have fun surfing the island and attending the festival. That's not going to be so easy with 5,000 troops on the island. That is what they will remember, not what a great fest it is."

Domestic travel to Phuket is being discouraged and hotels are being told not to accept reservations from residents of northern Thailand -- a stronghold of the red-shirt protesters who are allied with ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"According to a partner who owns a guesthouse in Phuket, police have already gone around once and told guesthouses and hotels not to accept bookings from northern Thailand," Rosenberg says. "Also, locals are leaving the island on vacation during this period to get away from the hassle -- that kills my box-office.

"So while I thought the ASEAN meeting would not be a problem -- it is turning out to be my biggest problem."

Protesting the disruption of the island's tourism and development businesses -- already hurting from the global economic crisis, Thailand's political instability and now swine-flu worries -- is the group of independent citizens calling itself "We Care About Phuket", which today issued a statement and an open letter to TAT chairman Weerasak Kowsurat. Here is the letter:

Dear Khun Weerasak,

We notice with dismay the funding by TAT of the World Comedy Film Festival in Bangkok while TAT has paid little attention to the international Phuket Film Festival which was to take place on Phuket June 4-11.

We don't understand why TAT cares more about throwing OUR Baht behind a throw-away film festival to make people laugh instead of helping to build a sustainable international event here on Phuket.

As well, the government positioning of armed forces on Phuket to shore up security during the upcoming ASEAN meeting DOES NOT contribute to our efforts to try and rebuild the tourist industry on Phuket. With pictures like the ones published over the weekend in the press of troops practicing on the island, these images are frightening to tourists and locals alike.

Please have TAT pay more attention to activities here on Phuket including immediate full support of the Phuket Film Festival and assurances of non interference by Thai military and a more gentle approach to security for the ASEAN meet.

An official statement from the Phuket Film Festival may be released on Wednesday, Rosenberg says.


(Top photo via Phuket Gazette)

Apichatpong's Uncle Boonmee wins two awards in Oberhausen

A Letter to Uncle Boonmee, a 17:50-minute work by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, won two awards at the recent 55th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen.

The international-competition jury awarded Boonmee the Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen, which has a 7,500-euro prize. A separate panel awarded A Letter to Uncle Boonmee the Prize of the Jury of the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, which has a 5,000-euro purse.

A Letter to Uncle Boonme is part of Apichatpong's multi-platform Primitive project, which was compiled from the filmmaker's work in the village of Nabua focusing on the "concept of remembrance and extinction set in the northeast of Thailand". The Primitive project also includes a massive art and video installation, which is showing until May 17 at the Munich art museum Haus der Kunst, and and then at FACT in Liverpool from September 25 to November 29. There's also another short, Phantoms of Nabua, which can be viewed online at the Animate Projects website.

Here is the statement of the international jury at Oberhausen:

For creating a cinematographic idiom that transcends conventional documentary realism or its representation. For evolving a temporality that is unhurried and reflexive and yet deeply disturbing as it references the brutalities of army and war through re-imagining the village of Nabua.

And the statement of the jury of the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia:

The jury of the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia awards its prize to a film which, while pretending to be a failed project, masterfully opens ever new visual and associative spaces. The film ranges between a biographical story, a reflection of cinematographic narratives right to the representation of political and historical contexts.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s film A Letter to Uncle Boonmee is convincing in its clever design and sensuality.

Uncle Boonmee is the main character in the Primitive project, and a feature-film component, Uncle Boonmee: A Man Who Can Recall His Past Lives is being planned.

The 12,500 euro in prizes from Oberhausen will certainly go toward making that a reality.

(Thanks Ann and Gridthiya! Photo via Animate Projects.)

GMM Grammy and its blurry Memory Collection

A year has passed since Thai 101 last looked at the significant offerings of older Thai films on DVD. For part 2 of Rikker's Thai Movie Roundup, he looks at the Memory Collection from GMM Grammy.

For this DVD series, Grammy is mining the back catalog of GMM Pictures, made before it merged its film business with studios Tai Entertainment and Hub-Ho-Hin in 2003 to create GMM Tai Hub or GTH.

So we have two vehicles for the then-teen superstar singer Tata Young, 1998's O-Negative and 1999's Red Bike Story. There's also the early 2003 release, Yuthlert Sippapak's New York-based romantic drama February.

February (Khumphaphan), starring Sopitnapa Dabbaransi and Shahkrit Yamnarm was the Memory Collection's first release in January. O-Negative, also co-starring Shahkrit, followed in February, and Red Bike Story, directed by Euthana Mukdasanit, is the latest release in March.

I noticed these titles in my local Boomerang shop, but I paid them no heed because they don't have English subtitles. And, it turns out they don't even have Thai subtitles. Additionally, the image quality appears to be very poor. Here's what Rikker has to say:

My feelings on this series overall is that it's typical Thai cheap-as-possible production, where they don't appear to either realize or consider that many people do care about things like image and sound quality ... So it smarts a little when they do cheap transfers and charge 199 baht for it.

Read Rikker's whole post, which includes links to huge cover art and big screenshots. He also links to the Thai DVD forum, where there are lots of negative comments.

Prices of these DVDs are coming down quickly. They are probably already in the bargain bins, where they can be had for lower and lower prices the longer they are around.

This could have been a great opportunity for Grammy and GTH to give their early films a classy treatment, but things like actual remastering -- not just a label that says "remastered" -- plus added-value things like English subtitles, behind-the-scenes featurettes and commentary tracks cost money. Money that Grammy ain't going to let go of unless it has to. And, because the quality is so poor and the DVDs lack any meaningful features, I won't be parting with any of my money either. Win-win or lose-lose, depending on how you look at it. End of story.

On to other concerns and other films.

On DVD in Taiwan: The Fatality

The Thai-Taiwanese supernatural psychological horror thriller The Fatality is out on DVD in Taiwan. Which means it has English subtitles in addition to the soundtrack that's in Mandarin and Thai.

It's available at YesAsia.

Directed by Tiwa Moeithaisong, The Fatality (Tok Tra Phee) was released in Thailand in January, and in Taiwan last November, and it also played at the International Film Festival Rotterdam as part of the Hungry Ghosts program.

Taiwanese singer Kenji Wu stars in a dual role as a mentally troubled Taiwanese street person who suddenly wakes up in Thailand and finds that he's in the body of a Thai civil servant who's just come out of a coma. People are calling him Asanee but he doesn't understand what they are saying because he can't speak Thai. Plus he's seeing dead people. And the real Asanee wants his soul back.

Pitchanart Sakakorn (The Victim) stars as the Thai guy's duplicitous wife. The cast also features Taiwanese actor Matt Wu, Hong Kong actor Sam Lee and Thai comic actor Somlek Sakdikul.

The Fatality immediately preceded Tiwa's bloody Meat Grinder, which was censored in Thailand.

(Via 24 Frames per Second)

Extra Virgin unveils new website, DVD store

Extra Virgin, the indie production, distribution and sales marque of filmmakers Pimpaka Towira and Mai Meksawan, has unveiled its own Web domain, www.ExtraVirginCo.com, upgrading from a Wordpress blog.

Most exciting of all is that Extra Virgin has followed the example set by Malaysian indie film collective Da Huang Pictures and opened the Extra Virgin DVD store.

Extra Virgin's sole DVD offering for now is Pimpaka's documentary The Truth Be Told: The Cases Against Supinya Klangnarong. And seriously, is there not a better time to revisit this sprawling political documentary on the end of the Thaksin era?

And, bucking the trend of Thailand's big studios, the Extra Virgin folks are showing wise foresight by offering English subtitles as an option on their DVDs -- so far.

The only payment options right now are PayPal and bank transfer. The DVD is reasonably priced if you're ordering in Thailand -- shipping costs are going to be a deal breaker for overseas orders I'm afraid.

The current production by Extra Virgin is Uruphong Raksasad's Agrarian Utopia, which is now on the festival circuit and yet to be shown in Thailand.

Extra Virgin also handled theatrical distribution for Aditya Assarat's Wonderful Town in Thailand, showing the film in a four-week limited run as part of its Directors' Screen series. That led to Wonderful Town collecting lots of trophies during this year's awards season. There's no Thai DVD yet of Wonderful Town, though it is available elsewhere.

Upcoming projects by Extra Virgin include The Island Funeral, directed by Pimpaka and co-written by Kong Rithdee, and a feature-film version of A Voyage of Foreteller by Jakrawal Nilthamrong, expanded from his short film of the same name.

Too much information about Nymph

Kong Rithdee has an interview with Pen-ek Ratanaruang about his new movie Nymph in today's Bangkok Post (cache).

From a cursory scan it looks like an informative and well-written piece, but I still don't want to read it. I believe that Pen-ek's new film Nymph (Nang Mai or นางไม้) is the type of film that's best discovered without knowing too much beforehand.

I think I know too much already. Go read it if you want, but don't say I didn't warn you. And whatever you do, don't look at the Thai teaser poster or read the synopsis.

Ignoring all the Nymph press is going to be increasingly difficult as the thriller makes its debut in the Un Certain Regard program at Cannes. But I shall try my best.

It's the only Thai film playing at this year's Cannes fest -- the most exciting in years -- according to Kong.

Of course, you might want to devour everything there is to find about Nymph. So go look at the poster image that Twitch posted a couple of days ago.

I looked and I wished I hadn't. And I'm still not sure it is real. Perhaps it's something Twitch's Todd Brown drew on butcher paper with a box of Crayolas at his kitchen table. And I'm not saying that in a derogatory way at all, because there's nothing wrong it and it gets the idea of the film across, which is basically, a man falls in love with a tree.

And there I've said too much.

Update: There is also too much information at the fairly new Southeast Asian Film Studies Institute.

Trailer for stuntman Mike B.'s The Sanctuary

Brave Mike B. will be returning with The Sanctuary, another gritty action-drama set in Bangkok. He's a Muay Thai warrior wrongly accused of stealing a sacred emerald. So he's on the run from the police as he tries to retrieve the jewel from a crime kingpin and return it to its sacred place.

Veteran actor Russell Wong stars as the leading bad guy, with the fiercely intense actress Patharawarin Timkul (1999's Bangkok Dangerous, Body #19) as his gun-toting henchwoman. Intira Jaroenpura (Nang Nak, Naresuan 2) also stars.

Produced by Las Vegas-based Birch Tree Entertainment, India's Infinity Filmed Entertainment and Film Frame Productions, Sanctuary was unveiled a year ago. You can check the Twitch archives for more details. And Kung Fu Cinema has more as well.

Mike B. and director Thanapon Maliwan are part of a divergent branch of the Panna Rittikrai-Tony Jaa action empire, as it was under Thanapon's father's Pechpanna productions that Panna made his early low-budget action flicks featuring no-holds-barred dangerous stunts. Pairote "Michael B." Boongerd was a stuntman on Jaa's Ong-Bak and Panna's Born to Fight.

The Sanctuary promises more of the same kind of bravura action scenes, with the fighter leading with his knees, elbows and dispatching his foes with balletic cartwheel kicks.

From what I've heard, the plan behind The Sanctuary is to make it a mostly English-language film that'll have a broad appeal on the international market. And conquer the world this film will -- in heavily stylized slow motion.

Don't understand what I mean? Watch the trailer. It's embedded below.



(Via Bangkok 1080 and Kung Fu Cinema)