Producer David Cluck was in Ferrara, and he picked up the Golden Dragon Award for Best Director for Spurrier. The attractive trophy now occupies a newly installed shelf in Spurrier's Friese-Greene Club in Bangkok. Perhaps more shelves for more trophies will be put up.
Meanwhile, Spurrier says he's submitted the film to the Thai Culture Ministry's ratings/censorship process and awaits word of whether he'll be able to show The Forest in the country where it was made.
And now some news about one of my favorite film festivals that I've never been to – the New York Asian Film Festival. After recent years of programming not so terribly much in the way of Southeast Asian films, the NYAFF has loaded up with a decent selection from the region, including two Thai films, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit's Heart Attack (known in Thailand as Freelance .. Ham Puay Ham Phak Ham Rak More, ฟรีแลนซ์.. ห้ามป่วย ห้ามพัก ห้ามรักหมอ) and Grace, which was released in January as Awasarn Loke Suay (อวสานโลกสวย).
Heart Attack – that's Nawapol's original and preferred title – is the multi-award-winning comedy-drama about a freelance graphic artist who works too hard and comes down with a rash. He's treated by a young female internist at a public hospital. She is working through her own issues.
A sprawling piece of quirk, Heart Attack humorously comments on many, many aspects of Thai society, and is wholly a Nawapol indie joint, just with the addition of marquee-name stars and marketing muscle from the studio GTH, which broke up toward the end of last year and then reformed (minus one partner) as GDH 559. They will be back in action shortly with a new slate of films.
Grace, an indie effort that was released by Kantana Motion Pictures is a pulpy exploitation story of an Internet idol, played with gusto by Thai indie-film darling Apinya Sakuljareonsuk. She turns murderous when her status as the Thailand's Top Net Idol is threatened by young upstarts. Two versions were supposedly released in Thai cinemas, one as an 18+ that anybody could see and another with the restrictive 20- rating, which you're supposed to show an I.D. to see. I saw the 20- one and I guess it must have really freaked me out, because I never got around to writing a review.
Saipan Apinya, a fierce, hard-working young actress whose break-out role was in Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Ploy, will put in an appearance at the NYAFF, which runs until July 9, so ask her questions if you dare.
Paul Spurrier, the Bangkok-based British filmmaker who makes Thai films, has been making the rounds of the festival circuit with his new feature The Forest (ป่า), a thriller about a former monk who takes a teaching post at a rural school and becomes involved in a conflict with corrupt local officials.
The story also involves the friendship between a mute girl and a mysterious boy who lives in the woods. Those two kids, Wannasa Wintawong and Tanapol Kamkunkam, are first-time actors who lived near the remote filming location in Udon Thani, and were picked from a field of around 400 or schoolchildren.
The cast is additionally burnished with a pair of well-known Thai screen talents, Vithaya Pansringarm from Only God Forgives and Asanee Suwan, an actor who best known for his breakout performance in Beautiful Boxer.
A micro-budget indie project, which the multi-hyphenate director-cinematographer-writer-propmaster Spurrier made with his wife Jiriya recording sound, The Forest will play in Udine alongside a couple of Thai studio releases from last year, Nawapol Thamrongtattanarit's award-winning Freelance.. Ham Puay Ham Phak Ham Rak More (ฟรีแลนซ์.. ห้ามป่วย ห้ามพัก ห้ามรักหมอ, a.k.a. Heart Attack) and Runpee (รุ่นพี่, a.k.a. Senior), which marked the return to the scene of Wisit Sasanatieng.
The Forest, meanwhile hasn't been released in Thailand, and Spurrier is still in the hunt for a local distributor. He has some censorship concerns, owing to the film's sexual subject matter and some nudity. Worth noting, Spurrier's debut feature, the Thai horror P never got a release in Thailand. And I still haven't seen it. I hope The Forest doesn't suffer the same fate. I mean, even if The Forest doesn't get a big-theater release in Thailand, Paul could always show it at his own private film club.
It includes the latest by Filipino Cannes fixture Brillante Mendoza, Ma'Rosa, in the main competition. And Singapore's Boo Junfeng returns to Cannes with The Apprentice in the Un Certain Regard program.
And while no Thai films have yet been included in this year's official selection, there will of course be Thai filmmakers there, thanks to the Culture Ministry, which is flying three directors and their producers to France for the annual Thai Pitch or, more awkwardly and officially, the Thai Pitching Event. This year's trio of directors vying for funding will be Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, Anucha Boonyawatana and Rutaiwan Wongsirasawasdi.
With producer Pacharin Surawatanapongs, Nawapol will seek to follow up his multi-award-winner Freelance with Die Tomorrow, which according to The Nation, will be six segments that are inspired by the grisly death photos that are splashed on the front pages of the mass-market Thai daily newspapers.
He has even come up with a concept poster, which is a newspaper page with a photo of young women staring and giggling at the their cellphones. The headline tells what happens to them: "Overloaded boat causes death of three schoolgirls".
Anucha, who had a great year with The Blue Hour storming the festival circuit and winning awards, will be pitching Malila, a Buddhist-themed drama that is being produced by John Badalu and Donsaron Kovitvanitcha.
And, finally, veteran industry hand Rutaiwan has To Become a Butterfly, a drama about a mother devoted to raising an autistic boy. Rutaiwan is perhaps best known for directing the 2005's comedy-drama Wai Onlawon 4 a.k.a. Oops ... There's Dad. She's been a long-time guiding hand behind the scenes at various film companies (she has a cameo as a music-video director in 2011's SuckSeed). Lately, Rutaiwan has been assisting Pen-ek Ratanaruang, working on his made-for-TV effort The Life of Gravity and his new film Samui Song, which everyone assumed would be showing in Cannes, but no. So maybe Venice?
Back in Thailand, the local press has been reporting on Patong Girl (สาวป่าตอง), the Thai-German indie romance about a young German man who falls head-over-heels for a mysterious Thai lass while on vacation in Thailand.
Though the winners were announced sometime back, the Grimme Prize ceremony was held in Marl, Germany, last weekend, with Thai transgender actress "Amp" Aisawanya Areyawattana appearing on German television to accept the award for Patong Girl in the best fiction/special category.
Directed by Susanna Salonen, Patong Girlis getting a release in Thai cinemas on April 21.
It takes some real guts to release a movie the same week as the new Star Wars film, but you should have that department more than covered if you're a rock star.
And so we have The Guitar King, a documentary on Thai rock and blues musician Lam Morrison. Produced by TrueVisions, it's directed by Passakorn Pramunwong, who follows the 72-year-old guitarist as he performs at his Hot Tuna Pub in Pattaya and revisits Norway and Germany, where he performed in his rock 'n' roll heydays.
Passakorn, a founder of A Day magazine, previously collaborated with filmmaker Pen-ek Ratanaruang on the documentaries Total Bangkok and Paradoxocracy. There's more about the movie in a Bangkok Post article.
In limited release in Bangkok, it's at Eastville, Esplanade Ratchada, Major Ratchayothin, Mega, Paragon and Quartier CineArt.
Ruined Heart: Another Love Story Between a Criminal and a Whore – Remember that weird and wonderful time in the early 2000s when Pen-ek Ratanaruang made a couple of movies with Japanese cult-film actor Tadanobu Asano and Wong Kar-wai's cinematographer Christopher Doyle? That was fun, right? Well, Filipino indie filmmaker/punk rocker Khavn de la Cruz thought so, and he got Asano and Doyle back together for Ruined Heart: Another Love Story Between a Criminal and a Whore. Set in the tin-shack slums of the Philippines, it is the punk-rock opera adaptation of Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover that I never thought I needed, nor really deserved. But I got it anyway. Without much in the way of dialogue, owing I suppose to language differences, Ruined Heart has Asano as an enforcer for a mobster who falls disastrously in love with the mobster's special lady friend. Bathed in a dreamy blue haze by Doyle's lighting and set to an original rock 'n' roll soundtrack, Ruined Heart is an oddball music-video appendix that would play comfortably alongside screenings of Pen-ek's Last Life in the Universe and Invisible Waves. (4/5)
About a Woman – Each year at the film festivals, there are Southeast Asian movies about maids, and I for some reason always end up seeing at least one. This year's entry into the canon was Indonesian director Teddy Soeriaatmadja's latest, About a Woman. It has a well-to-do widow whose maid up and quits, leaving her to figure out how to cook dinner, put the heavy water bottle up on the dispenser and shut off the lights at the end of the day. Set in a fancy house with a dark, polished wood interior, it's a quiet, slow-moving drama that took me awhile to get into. But the turning point was when the widow's daughter shows up to look in on her mother, and they have a conversation. No biggie, just one of those moments of truth in cinema with a mother and daughter are having a heart-to-heart, and the daughter is just sitting there, looking like dynamite in her Muslim hijab, smoking a cigarette. The mother, a bit jealous, admits she could never quite pull that look off. Anyway, that's the first of many little moments. Another is when the sketchy son-in-law drops by with some of the honey he's hawking, and amid sweet talk he determines that what his mother-in-law needs is a young man around the house. So a jeans-clad, emo-haircut-sporting nephew shows up. And sparks almost instantly fly between the young man and the lonely, somehow eerily attractive widow. She's played by Tutie Kirana, a veteran Indonesian actress with credits that stretch back to the 1970s. From then, I was like Peter Stormare in Fargo, holed up in a cabin, engrossed in a soap opera on a snow-covered TV set, just engrossed to the point where I audibly gasped at a scene I'd already seen in the trailer. I know I annoyed the heck out of the serious Thai cinephiles seated around me. Sorry guys, I just got swept up. (4/5)
Those are the Southeast Asian films I got to see at the 13th World Film Festival of Bangkok last month. Other films I quite liked included the well-made Chinese indie Underground Fragrance and the Russian teen drama 14+.
I also saw all three volumes of Miguel Gomes' Arabian Nights and I am glad I did. I'm not sure I can put into words my feelings about the films. However, I did try, but only because I was assigned to by The Nation.
Arbat (อาบัติ), the Buddhist-themed horror film that was banned for its scenes of a monk kissing a girl, has been unbanned, and was released in Thai cinemas last night.
Running around three minutes shorter than the banned version, the movie is now known as Arpatti (อาปัติ).
"A little toned down" is how the movie is described in an article in The Nation by producer Prachya Pinkaew, whose Baa-Ram-Ewe production marque supported the film.
It is directed by Kanitta Kwunyoo, a young filmmaker making her debut feature. "I felt relieved that I could save the main theme of the movie," she is quoted as saying in The Nation.
According to the newspaper, the removed scenes included the novice monk kissing a woman and novices disrespectfully lifting a Buddha image by its head.
Censors, which had included Buddhist clergy on their committee, had also objected to scenes of monks drinking alcohol and getting into physical altercations.
The novice, a young man packed off to the monkhood by his father, is played by Charlie Potjes, a.k.a. Charlie Trairat, the former child actor from such movies as Fan Chan and Dorm. The story has the young man falling for a local girl. Meanwhile, dark secrets of the temple's past begin to manifest themselves.
The title change, from Arbat (อาบัติ) to Arpatti (อาบัติ), softens the film's image. The original title is a Pali word that refers to offenses committed by monks. The new title, Arpatti, has no apparent meaning. The difference as written in Thai is so subtle it is difficult to spot, with ปั instead of บั. New posters with the changed title were issued.
While Buddhist groups feared the film would cause Thais to lose faith in their majority religion, the film's supporters said it would strengthen the institution by calling attention to the issue of monks who break the Buddhist precepts – monks who drink, fornicate, fight, gamble, etc. – instances that are reported widely in the daily Thai press.
And though the filmmakers will deny it, there was also criticism that the movie's provocative original trailer and the ban itself were simply moves to generate publicity.
Thailand's film-censorship law was changed in 2008, shifting the focus to a ratings system rather than 1930s-era one-size-fits-all blanket censorship. There are six ratings, ranging from P (for "promote") and G (general), to the age-related advisory categories, 13+, 15+ and 18+, and the restrictive 20-, which requires IDs to be shown. There is also a hidden seventh category, for films that are banned. Arpatti is rated 18+
Previously banned films include Tanwarin Sukkhapisit's erotic drama Insects in the Backyard and Ing K.'s political satire Shakespeare Must Die. Both filmmakers have appealed against the bans, and those cases are pending.
Other controversial films have included Nontawat Numbenchapol's 2013 Thai-Cambodian border documentary Boundary (ฟ้าต่ำแผ่นดินสูง, Fahtum Pandinsoong), which was banned and unbanned. There was also the political documentary Paradoxocracy (ประชาธิป'ไทย, Prachatipthai), which had the sound muted and subtitles blacked out when certain things were said.
Sahamongkol Film International, the studio releasing Arpatti, had previously released the Buddhist-themed crime thriller Nak Prok (นาคปรก, a.k.a. Shadow of the Naga), which had criminals posing as monks brandishing guns. It was eventually released in Thai cinemas with pop-up text warnings during certain scenes, to remind viewers that monks should not do those things.
Another 25 titles have been added to the growing list of “Films as National Heritage” by the Culture Ministry and the Thai Film Archive, ranging from 1918 footage of soldiers going off to battle in World War I to puppy-love romance between teenage boys in the 2007 drama The Love of Siam.
Updated each year on October 4, which is Thai National Film Preservation Day, the historic-film registry now numbers 125 titles.
Many of the entries this year are from the U.S. Information Service, the propaganda arm of America's diplomatic corps. These include Thai Army Goes to Korean War, which shows Thai troops joining the fight against communism, and Heritage from King Mongkut, which recounts the contributions of American missionary and physician Dan Beach Bradley.
USIS also made The Ordination of the King, documenting the ceremony by which His Majesty King Bhumibol entered the monkhood.
The growth of commercial Thai cinema is represented by entries from the 1970s through the 1990s, ranging from director Piak Poster’s erotic island romance Choo, to Baan Phi Pob 2, the second film in the popular horror-comedy franchise, which had villagers endlessly running around and screaming and they tried to escape the gut-stabbing ghost-granny Pob Yip.
Ta-mone Prai
Aside from Piak, other notable filmmakers on this year’s list are Manop Udomdej, with 1981's On the Fringe of Society, Cherd Songsri with his 1983 sibling-rivalry romance Puen-Pang, Bhandit Rittakol and his 1987 farming drama Duay Klao, Pen-ek Ratanaruang with his 1999 black comedy Ruang Talok 69 and Jira Maligool with his 2002 Nong Khai festival yarn Mekhong Full Moon Party.
Historical battle epics now become history themselves, with the inclusion this year of Thanit Jitnukul’s Bang Rajan from 2000 and MC Chatrichalerm Yukol’s Suriyothai from 2001.
And recent global hits are represented by 2003’s martial-arts drama Ong Bak, which introduced Tony Jaa to the world, and GTH’s 2004 thriller Shutter, which introduced Thai horror to the world.
Here's the list, which is translated by Thai Film Archive deputy director Sanchai Chotirosseranee, who also offered commentary on some of the more-obscure entries.
Ngoa Ba
Films as National Heritage 2015
The Siamese Military in the First World War (unofficial title) / ภารกิจทหารอาสาสยามในสงครามโลกครั้งที่ ๑, 1918/63.26 min. – King Rama VI sent 1,233 Siamese volunteer soldiers to join World War I in 1917. According to newspaper ads from the era, the film was shown in Siam in 1919. It was thought to be lost, but resurfaced last year as France observed the centenary of the war. The French Embassy and the Alliance Francaise exhibited rare photographs and this film footage, which was well-preserved at the archives of the French Ministry of Defense.
The Playful Kids in the Reign of King Rama VII (unofficial title)/เด็กซนสมัย ร.๗, 1927-32)/7 min. – This "found footage" was shot on 16mm. There is no information on who made the film. It shows youngsters putting on a performance for the camera, playing traditional games, dancing, play-fighting and comic acting in the style of Western films, showing the already pervasive influence of film on Siamese society.
Pan-Tai Norasingh/พันท้ายนรสิงห์, 1950/98 min. – Directed by Prince Bhanubandhu Yugala (grand-uncle of MC Chatrichalerm Yukol) with cinematography by then-budding auteur R.D. Pestonji, this is the first theatrical feature of a historical tale that has been adapted many times for theater, film and television. The story, which takes place during the reign of Ayutthaya's King Sanphet VIII, is about an oarsman on a royal barge who loses control of the vessel in strong currents, causing it to hit a tree and become damaged. The king, understanding the difficult conditions, did not wish to punish Norasingh, but the ever-dutiful and devoted sailor insisted that no exceptions should be made, and he was beheaded according to law.
Thai Army goes to Korean War (unofficial title)/ทหารไทยไปเกาหลี, 1951–52)/7.42 min. – The United States Information Service in Bangkok made this clip of Royal Thai Army troops joining the United Nations' "police action" against the communist North Korean invaders.
Heritage from King Mongkut/มรดกพระจอมเกล้า, 1954/60 min. – This USIS dramatization depicted the influential contributions to Thai society of Dr. Dan Beach Bradley, an American Christian missionary and physician, whose close relations with the King Rama IV court helped Western medicine gain acceptance in Thailand. Bradley also published the first Thai newspaper, the Bangkok Recorder.
The Ordination of the King/พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัวเสด็จออกผนวช, 1956/13.42 min. – When His Majesty King Bhumibol entered the monkhood for 15 days in 1956, the USIS was there with its film cameras to record the royal ceremony.
The Commercial of the Monk Coin for 25th Buddhist Century Anniversary/โฆษณาพระเครื่องฉลอง ๒๕ พุทธศตวรรษ, 1957/4.52 min. – Commemorative coins were minted in observance of the 25th Buddhist century anniversary, which the government aimed to use to raise funds to build the massive "Buddhist Vatican" called Phutthamonthon, near Salaya, Nakhon Pathom.
Ta-mone Prai/ทะโมนไพร, 1959/42 min. – King Kong has a starring role this an artifact from a lost era of regional cinema. It was made by a filmmaker in Narathiwat and screened only there and in nearby southern provinces. “Only a few of these films survive,” Sanchai says, adding that the complete movie was 50 minutes but one reel was damaged, leaving just 42 minutes of the tale of triangular romance and a giant ape.
Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat Performing the Duty for His Nation as Head of Government and Military Commander Until He Fell Ill and Died/การปฏิบัติหน้าที่เพื่อประเทศชาติในตำแหน่งหัวหน้ารัฐบาลและผู้นำทางทหารจนถึงล้มป่วยและอสัญกรรมของ ฯพณฯ จอมพลสฤษดิ์ ธนะรัชต์, 1963/25.16 min. – Their Majesties the King and Queen make an appearance, visiting the bedridden military ruler, who in an act of devotion, takes His Majesty's hand and places it over his head.
Yuthana und Siripon Monch auf Zeit/ยุทธนา –ศิริพร, 1963/44.54 min – Another monkhood ordination is depicted in this travelogue documentary by German documentarian Hans Berthel in collaboration with noted lensman Tae Prakardwuttisan, following a middle-class Bangkok couple as they visit tourist attractions. Tae was made a National Artist in film in 1999.
The Spread of Kinship/สายเลือดเดียวกัน, 1966–68/103 min. – Another Cold War relic, made with support of the USIS, this feature-length drama aimed to attack and defame communism.
Choo/ชู้, a.k.a. Adulterer, 1972/145 min. – While he's probably best known for his string of teen-oriented comedies, movie-poster-artist-turned-filmmaker Somboonsuk Niyomsiri, a.k.a. Piak Poster, also made many solidly dramatic films, including this erotic island romance. "Although the film was not successful in term of box-office earnings, it was much-acclaimed and became the Thai representative at the 19th Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Singapore, where it was awarded the special award because of its outstandingly unconventional story," Sanchai notes.
Wai Tok Kra/วัยตกกระ, 1978/122 min. – Here's a Thai cinema “first” – the first commercial feature to have elderly people as central characters, with “actual senior actors, not young, famous actors in makeup,” Sanchai explains.
Ngoa Ba/เงาะป่า, 1980/86.21 min. – Two generations of master filmmakers, Prince Bhanubandhu Yugala and Piak Poster, came together to collaborate on this adaptation of a popular play from the King Rama V era. It's a "Romeo and Juliet" romance taking place in land of the Sakai, an indigenous tribe in the South of Thailand.
On the Fringe of Society/ประชาชนนอก, 1981/90 min. – Manop Udomdej directs this flipside view of all that anti-communist propaganda, with the story of community activists who were wrongly persecuted and killed for their socialist leanings. It was funded by the Roman Catholic charity Caritas Thailand.
Puen-Paeng/เพื่อนแพง, 1983/131 min. – Auteur director Cherd Songsri's best-regarded film is the tragic romance Plae Kao (The Scar). But I saw Peun-Pangseveral years ago and liked it better. Sorapong Chatree stars as a poor farmboy in 1930s Siam, who is in love with one sister, but the girl's plucky younger sister likes him more. It was another entry in Cherd's campaign to introduce the concept of "Thainess" to this world, which I think he accomplishes with subtlety and sensitivity.
Duay Klao/ด้วยเกล้า a.k.a. The Seed, 1987/107 min. – Like Piak Poster in the 1970s, director Bhandit Rittakol in the 1980s was primarily known for his teen-oriented Boonchu movies. Duay Klao was his attempt at "serious" cinema, and he succeeded. Made in celebration of His Majesty the King's 60th birthday, the drama stars folksinger Jarun Manupetch as a farmer who nurtures a rice crop from a single seed he obtained from the Royal Ploughing Ceremony. A story of drought-hit farmers and opium-growing indigenous people, the movie depicts many of the His Majesty's Royal Projects, including cloud-seeding and crop replacement. The movie had a brief revival run in 2006 to celebrate the King's 60th anniversary of accession.
Baan Phi Pob 2/บ้านผีปอบ 2, 1990/91 min. – This is the second entry in a crazily popular ghost comedy franchise, which for many Thais are the films that defined the '90s. The films all involve hayseed villagers endlessly running around and screaming and they tried to escape the gut-stabbing ghost-granny Pob Yip, portrayed by Natthinee Sittisaman.
6ixtynin9/เรื่องตลก 69 (Ruang Talok 69), 1999/115 min. – With an iconic poster that features actress Lalida Panyopas pointing a gun into her mouth, I'm not sure Ruang Talok 69 would fly in today's squeamishly conservative and politically correct Thai culture. Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang, the biting black comedy is about a desperate jobless woman who comes across an instant-noodle box full of cash outside her apartment. She then haplessly racks up a body count as various thugs try to retrieve the loot.
Bang Rajan/บางระจัน, 2000/118 min. – Produced by Film Bangkok, this was one of the first Thai titles to make global impact during the "new wave" period of the late '90s and early 2000s. Thanit Jitnukul directs the blood-soaked tale of farmers mounting a last-ditch defense against the invading Burmese hoards in 1767.
Suriyothai/สุริโยไท, 2001/142 min. – Directed by MC Chatrichalerm Yukol and supported by Her Majesty the Queen, this epic historical drama recounts the life of an Ayutthaya-era queen who famously took up arms and rode an elephant into battle, and perished in defense of her king. A box office hit that was only recently unseated from the top spot by Pee Mak Phra Khanong, Suriyothai served as the prequel and template for Chatrichalerm's six-film Naresuan saga.
Mekhong Full Moon Party/15 ค่ำเดือน 11 (15 Kham Duean 11), 2002/120 min. – Jira Maligool's charming comedy offers an explanation of the mysterious fireballs that arise from the Mekong River during the annual Full Moon Festival in Nong Khai. While scientists and various experts offer their theories on the phenomenon, there's a local boy and a monk who know the truth.
Ong-Bak/องค์บาก , 2003/104 min. – Directed by Prachya Pinkaew, this is the definitive showcase of the abilities of martial-arts star Tony Jaa and the innovative choreography of Jaa's former mentor Panna Rittikrai, who passed away last year.
Shutter/ชัตเตอร์ กดติดวิญญาณ, 2004/92 min. – Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom wrote and directed this thriller, which is based on the notion of ghostly images turning up in photos, and has Ananda Everingham as a lensman who is haunted and slowly goes insane. It was one of the first Thai films to get the Hollywood remake treatment.
The Love of Siam/รักแห่งสยาม, 2007/171 min. – Widely acclaimed and winner of dozens of awards, this was the hit that brought gay romance to the Thai mainstream. It was a breakthrough for director Chookiat Sakveerakul, as well as the film’s stars, leading man Mario Maurer, actor-musician Witwisit Hiranyawongkul and the August band.
Winner of four national weight-class titles and the 1982 World Boxing Council featherweight champ, he was a fearsome pugilist who was known as the "Jade Tiger".
Made with Samart’s support, it includes dramatized scenes from his upbringing and career, with actors portraying him at various ages. The documentary also covers a 1986 bout in which Samart avoided almost 20 punches from opponent Juan Mesa. There's also his controversial 1987 loss in Australia to Jeff Fenech.
Along with Now 26, it's produced by Local Color Films, a production shingle formed a few years ago by Pawas Sawatchaiyamet, a.k.a. Saksiri Chantarangsri, the veteran production designer who worked closely with Wisit Sasanatieng and Pen-ek Ratanaruang. Norachai Kajchapanont directs.
The Look of Silence, an award-winning followup to Oscar-nominated The Act of Killing about genocide in Indonesia, and the SXSW entry Y/Our Music, which covers on-the-fringe Thai musicians, will be the opening and closing entries of the fifth Salaya International Documentary Film Festival, which runs from March 21 to 28 at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, and from March 24 to 27 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.
Noteworthy films include Southeast Asian Cinema – When the Rooster Crows, covering directors Brillante Mendoza from the Philippines, Garin Nugroho from Indonesia, Eric Khoo from Singapore and Pen-ek Ratanaruang from Thailand, and Flowers of Taipei: Taiwan New Cinema, which traces the influence of such filmmakers as Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien. Among the filmmakers and artists testifying are Apichatpong Weerasethakul – he's in a trailer embedded below.
Other special screenings include Frederick Wiseman's National Gallery, Love Is All: 100 Years of Love and Courtship, featuring rare footage from the British Film Insitute and Yorkshire Film Archive; No Word for Worry, covering the fading "sea gypsy" culture of Myanmar; and The Wages of Resistance: Narita Stories, which is a followup to a long-running series of 1960s documentaries about farmers opposed to the ever-expanding Tokyo airport.
Also, there will be the controversial Diving Bell: The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol. The film, which caused an uproar at the Busan fest, will have a Q-and-A with the directors following a one-off BACC screening.
Acclaimed Dutch-Indonesian auteur Leonard Retel Helmrich, known for his "single-shot cinema" technique, is this year's "director in focus". Four of his award-winning films will be shown: Eye of the Day, Shape of the Moon, Position Among the Stars and Promised Paradise. He'll also conduct a masterclass for registered participants and be on hand after some screenings for a talk.
And the centerpiece of Salaya Doc is the Asean competition, which this year has seven entries, both shorts and features, from Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Most of that program is detailed over at Bangkok Cinema Scene.
Demonstrating that it helps if you kick ass, Filipino auteur Lav Diaz and the Indonesian martial-arts film The Raid 2: Berandal will represent Southeast Asia at the ninth Asian Film Awards, which have once again not included any Thai films among its nominees.
Indie-cult helmer Diaz is among the best director nominees for his latest opus, From What Is Before (Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon), which examines the profound social tattering of a village under martial law during the Marcos regime. The four-hour drama premiered in competition at last year's Locarno fest, where it won the top-prize Golden Leopard.
And the impressionist action film The Raid 2: Berandal is nominated twice, best cinematography for Matt Flannery and Dimas Imam Subhono and best editing for Gareth Evans (who also directed and made it snow in Jakarta). One-upping 2011's The Raid at every turn, in terms of scope, fight scenes, stunts and characters, The Raid 2 follows a young butt-kicking police officer (no-nonsense leading man Iko Uwais) as he takes an undercover assignment as a prison inmate. His job is to infiltrate an underworld mob that has tentacles reaching all the way to the top of the police force.
Announced yesterday, the leading nominee for the ninth Asian Film Awards is Hong Kong director Ann Hui's The Golden Era, including best director and best actress for Tang Wei.
Other best director nominees are China's Lou Ye for Blind Massage, Japan's Shinya Tsukamoto for Fires on the Plain, India's Vishal Bhardwaj for Haider and South Korea's Hong Sang-soo for Hill of Freedom.
And the Best Film nominees are China's Black Coal, Thin Ice and Blind Massage, South Korea's Hill of Freedom and Ode to My Father, Japan's The Light Shine Only There and India's Haider. Variety and Film Business Asia break it down.
As with past editions of the Asian Film Awards, most of the nominees hail from China, followed by Hong Kong/Mainland co-productions, then South Korea, Japan and India.
Thailand has been shut out of the past couple editions of the Asian Film Awards, last appearing in 2012, when the Rashomon remake U Mong Pa Mueang and Pen-ek Ratanaruang's hitman drama Headshot were up for prizes. Thai composer Chatchai Pongpraphan came away a winner for his work on the Donnie Yen martial-arts drama Wu Xia.
Another good year was 2010, when Lee Chatametikool won best editing on the Malaysian indie Karaoke, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Cannes-winning Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives was named Best Film in 2011.
But looking at the nominees this year, I can start to see a pattern of sorts. Thailand had some well-regarded commercial hits last year, such as the GTH romances The Teacher's Diary and the blockbuster I Fine ... Thank You ... Love You or Yuthlert Sippapak's Tukkae Rak Pang Mak, but I can't quite see those going into a dark Macau alley with Lav Diaz or the boys from The Raid 2, or even the Chinese entries Black Coal, Thin Ice or Blind Massage. They'd get clobbered.
Best chance for Thailand at the Asian Film Awards might have been with past-winner Lee's feature directorial debut Concrete Clouds, which had many strong points, especially its cast. The scrappy indie student film W. might have fit in there somewhere as well, especially for editing. Another possibility might have been Uruphong Raksasad's award-winning documentary The Songs of Rice, which could have been a contender in the editing and cinematography categories. But, being a documentary, it's off the radar for the awards. Perhaps it's time to add a documentary category, hmm?
The Asian Film Awards are set for March 25 in Macau.
Walter White, meet your kindred amoral spirit from the Philippines. In The Patriarch (Kabisera), he's Andres, a humble fisherman who rows out to sea one morning, hears gunshots and then discovers several floating crates. Upon inspection, he finds the boxes are full of crystal methamphetamine. What to do? The best thing would be to leave them and forget about them, but then there wouldn't be a movie. So Andres hauls in his illicit catch. If he can unload the drugs, he stands to make millions of pesos, but more importantly the ex-con Andres would finally be able regain control of his family from his domineering wife, a college-bound son who is desperate to leave the nest and headstrong daughter who is ready to get married and also move out. To sell the drugs, Andres turns to his slick gangster best friend Jose (Arthur Acuña), who has a ragtag band of street-level idiots peddling the meth. A bent local cop becomes another partner in the scheme. Soon there are federal drug agents sniffing around, and there's that pesky Muslim cartel, which wants its drugs back. It's a pressure-cooker situation that's as heart-pounding as an episode of Breaking Bad. Ultimately, Andres betrays everything he believed in. Leading man Joel Torre, a veteran actor with a list of credits that makes him the Bryan Cranston of the Philippines, except more kick-ass, is amazing, and I want to seek out other stuff he's been in, such as John Sayles' Amigo or Erik Matti's hitman drama On the Job. The debut feature by Alfonso "Borgy" Torre (a nephew of the leading man), Kabisera scooped up three prizes at least year's Cinema One festival, including best director, best actor and supporting actress for Bing Pimentel as Andres' wife. The film is very, very dark, not only with its subject matter of ambiguous morality, but in terms of lighting. Many of the action scenes were so low lit, it was frustratingly hard to see what was going on. But perhaps that was a technical problem with the projector setting at the Luang Prabang Film Festival's daytime venue? (4/5)
Iskalawags
Fun-filled and nostalgic, the childhood friendship drama Iskalawags is a lively recounting of the adventures of a club of boys in a small town on the island of Cebu. It's a partly autobiographical effort by director Keith Deligero, who appeared at the Luang Prabang Film Festival to explain he aimed to recapture the atmosphere of an outdoor movie festival he organizes in his Cebu hometown. Along with the usual shenanigans by the ragtag group of boys, they share a love for the gritty Filipino action films of the 1990s and act out their various shoot-out scenes. These are the types of movies that were popular during the Betamax era, when communities would attend outdoor screenings of the videotapes. A Cinema One entry, Iskalawags is also notable for its use of the local Cebuano dialect, making it part of the regional dialect movement in Pinoy film. Among the mysteries in this coming-of-age story is that of the boys' stern teacher, Ma'am Lina (Dionne Monsanto), whose estranged husband is ominously hanging around, trying to fix his broken motorcycle. With a crucial role to play, he's portrayed by none other than Jeric Raval, the leading man of many of the old action flicks the boys are fans of. (4/5)
Southeast Asian Cinema: When the Rooster Crows
From Thailand to the Philippines, the crowing rooster is the often-heard soundtrack of Southeast Asian films, the plucky spirit of which is captured in the documentary Southeast Asian Cinema: When the Rooster Crows. A last-minute entry to the Luang Prabang Film Festival, the documentary was a fine complement to the fest's panel talks with regional filmmaking talents and its selection of the best of Southeast Asian films. And, fittingly, it was accompanied by a soundtrack of the actual roosters and hens that live next door to the festival's daytime screening venue in an old-style wooden house on the grounds of the Hotel de la Paix, a colonial-era edifice that used to be a prison. Italian Leonardo Cinieri Lombroso, who previously did Through Korean Cinema, was inspired to look Southeast after the surprising 2009 best director win by Filipino Brillante Mendoza for Kinatay. He starts with Mendoza and then picks Thailand's Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Singapore's Eric Khoo and Indonesia's Garin Nugroho. Each of the four countries are given standalone segments, which in addition to the interviews with the directors are supplemented by generous film clips – even Pen-ek's hard-to-find debut Fun Bar Karaoke is highlighted. And there is testimony from film producers, actors, crew members and film critics, among them Kong Rithdee. Pen-ek's regular cinematographer Chankit Chamnivikaipong recalls that time when Pen-ek collaborated with lensman Christopher Doyle on two career-changing landmark features, Last Life in the Universe and Invisible Waves. And Pen-ek's regular sound designer Koichi Shimizu offers an added treat, plugging wires into his magic box. Electronic bleeps and bloops emanate and pretty soon it's music. For regular fans of Southeast Asian cinema, the documentary will likely offer little in the way of new information, but it's still essential viewing. Already a huge fan of Pen-ek and Mendoza, the segments on Khoo – a versatile auteur – and Nugroho were eye-openers and piqued my interest in seeking out more of their films. (4/5)
The Culture Ministry and the Thai Film Archive have added another 25 films to the National Film Heritage Registry, running from 1897's visit to Stockholm by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) to 2003's smash-hit childhood drama Fan Chan and including 1953's Santi-Veena, which was thought for years to be lost.
The oldest entry, King Rama V visits Stockholm, is footage that was found last year. According to Film Archive director Dome Sukwong it is one of the two oldest surviving filmed records of Thais. The other, a 2011 Registry entry, is Rama V's visit to Berne, Switzerland, also in 1897, by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. In Sweden, pioneering cinematographer Ernest Florman captured Chulalongkorn and King Oscar II greeting each other with kisses.
Established in 2011, the film registry now numbers 100 entries. The latest additions were announced by Culture Minister Vira Rojpojchanarat on October 4 at the Archive.
This year's listing also includes Apichatpong Weerasekthakul's debut Mysterious Object at Noon, Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Monrak Transistor and Nonzee Nimibutr's Nang Nak, Oscar-submitted social-issue dramas by M.C. Chatrichalerm Yukol and Bhandit Rittakol and two films with cinematography by pioneering auteur R.D. Pestonji.
Among Pestonji's films is the 1953 drama Santi-Veena, which had been feared lost.
Sanchai Chotirosseranee, deputy archive director, said that copies of Santi-Veena were recently discovered at Gosfilmofond in Russia and at the China Film Archive. "We are now trying to do digital restoration," Sanchai says.
A romantic drama, Santi-Veena was the first Thai film to win awards overseas, grabbing four prizes at the 1954 Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Tokyo, including best cinematography for Pestonji, who was awarded a Mitchell camera. In a quirk of history, he was charged $5,000 tax for the $16,000 camera. Also, the filmmakers were fined 1,000 baht by Thai authorities for failing to clear the film with censors before exhibiting it overseas. The camera is now the centerpiece of an exhibit with a wax figure of Pestonji at the archive's Thai Film Museum.
In the following list, Sanchai adds information about some of the lesser-known entries.
2014 Registry of Films as National Heritage
King Rama V visits Stockholm, (ร. ๕ เสด็จประพาสกรุงสต็อกโฮล์ม ), 1897 – Cinematographer Ernest Florman filmed the meeting of Chulalongkorn and Sweden's King Oscar II.
Siamese Society, 1920 – A record of Siamese tradition and culture by noted travelogue maker Burton Holmes.
King Rama VII Visits Indochine (เสด็จอินโดจีน พ.ศ. ๒๔๗๓ ), 1930 – The film is also the first football match between the Siamese national side and Saigon's team.
Sound Patch Work, 1930 – Introduces the first Thai radio station in Phaya Thai Palace.
Past Pattani (ปัตตานีในอดีต ), 1936 – Depicts tourist attractions, the constitution ceremony and a boxing match between famous fighters Saman and Sompong.
Handful of Rice (ข้าวกํามือเดียว), 1940 – A Swedish filmmaking team was invited by high-society northerners. Shot in Chiang Mai, it shows the importance of Thai rice.
Pry Ta Khean (พรายตะเคียน ), 1940 – The oldest surviving Thai ghost film includes many comic gags that are used in Thai horror comedies to this day.
The Birthday Ceremony of Major General Luang Piboon Songkarm, the Prime Minister at The Parliament at Suan Kulap Palace (งานวันชาตะ นายพลตรีหลวงพิบูลสงคราม นายกรัฐมนตรี ณ ทําเนียบ วังสวนกุหลาบ ), 1941
Brother (พี่ชาย ), 1951 – Adapted from a stage play, the film starred many important Thai actors.
Jumruen–Jimmy (จําเริญ -จิมมี่ , 1953 – World-champion boxer Jimmy arrives in Bangkok to face his opponent Jumruen.
Santi–Veena (สันติ -วีณา , 1953 – Directed by Tawee "Kru Marut" na Bangchang with a screenplay by Vichit Kounavudhi and cinematography by R.D. Pestonji, it won three prizes at the 1954 Asia Pacific Film Festival in Tokyo, the first Thai film to be awarded overseas.
Forever Yours (ชั่วฟ้าดินสลาย, Chua Fah Din Salai), 1954 – Kru Marut with cinematographer R.D. Pestonji directed this adaptation of Malai Choopiniji's novel about adulterous young lovers chained together.
Poor Millionaire (เศรษฐีอนาถา ), 1956 – The winning Best Thai Film of the first national film awards in 1957.
Envy Love (รักริษยา, Rak Ritsaya), 1957 – A romantic drama starring 1954 Miss Thailand Universe Ammara Assawanon, a.k.a. "the Thai Elizabeth Taylor".
Rice Carriage, Threshing Rice, Rice Mill, Wedding in Southern Thailand, (หาบข้าว นวดข้าว สีข้าว แต่งงานภาคใต้ ), 1968-69 – A record of many interesting Thai rice customs.
Virginity Market (ตลาดพรหมจารีย์ , Talad Prom Charee, 1973 – Veteran director Sakka Charuchinda's drama criticizes male hegemony in Thai society with a story about a fisherman who sells his stepdaughter to buy a new motor.
Chinatown Montage (สําเพ็ง, Sampeng), 1982 – Surapong Pinijkhar directs this pioneering experimental look at Bangkok's Chinatown, from morning to night.
Silhouette of God (คนทรงเจ้า , Kon Song Jao), 1989 – Jazz Siam's social-issue drama for Five Star Production takes a critical view of black-magic beliefs in Thai society. Classic screen couple Santisuk Promsiri and Chintara Sukapatana star.
The Elephant Keeper (คนเลี้ยงช้าง , Kon Liang Chang), 1990 – M.C. Chatrichalerm Yukol addresses environmental issues in this gritty action-drama about a mahout (Sorapong Chatree) who takes his elephant to work in the illegal timber trade. It was a submission to the Academy Awards.
Rolling Stones, กลิ้งไว้ก่อนพ่อสอนไว้ , Gling Wai Kon Por Son Wai, 1991 – A famous teen film by director "King" Somching Srisuparp.
Once Upon a Time ... In the Morning (กาลครั้งหนึ่งเมื่อเช้านี้ , Kalla Khrung Nueng ... Muea Chao Nee), 1994 – Another Oscar submission, Bhandit Rittakol's social-issue drama deals with children who run away from their divorcee mother (Chintara Sukapatana). They fall in with gangsters as they travel cross-country to find their father (Santisuk Promsiri).
Nang Nak (นางนาก ), 1999 – Nonzee Nimibutr's adaptation of the famous ghost story of Mae Nak of Phra Khanong was a box-office hit and swept up most of the National Film Association Awards, the Netpac Award at Rotterdam and several prizes at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival.
Mysterious Object at Noon (ดอกฟ้าในมือมาร, Dokfa Nai Meuman), 2000 – Winner of awards in Fribourg, Yamagata and Vancouver, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's debut feature is an experimental documentary in which a film crew travels the length of Thailand, getting various folks to take part in an "exquisite corpse" storytelling exercise.
Monrak Transistor (มนต์รักทรานซิสเตอร์), 2001 – An Oscar submission and winner at festivals and the National Film Association Awards, Pen-ek Ratanaruang's sprawling musical-comedy-drama pays tribute to singer Suraphol Sombatcharoen with a story about a young man who goes AWOL from the army and leaves his wife in order to be a big luk thung star.
Fan Chan (แฟนฉัน, a.k.a. My Girl), 2003 – The smash-hit childhood drama launched the careers of six young directors and led to the formation of the GTH studio.
The sweet, sentimental romance The Teacher's Diary
(คิดถึงวิทยา, Kid Tueng Wittaya) has been submitted as Thailand's entry to the 87th Academy Awards, the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand has announced.
Directed by Nithiwat Tharatorn, the comedy-drama follows the slowly intertwining stories of two lonely teachers, a young woman and a young man, who are posted to the same rural school a year apart. Sukrit "Bie" Wisetkaew is a bumbling-but-enthusiastic ex-jock who is assigned to the remote floating schoolhouse. Cut off from such modern conveniences as electricity and telephone service, Song takes to reading an illustrated diary left by his predecessor Ann, and he slowly falls in love with her. Song later moves on, and when the headstrong and opinionated Ann (Chermarn "Ploy" Boonyasak) returns to her old post, she finds the battered diary has been expanded upon, and she develops feelings for Song, even though the two have never met.
The 21st Thai entry into the Oscars' foreign-language division, The Teacher's Diary follows last year's submission, the thriller Countdown, which was also from GTH. Other Oscar submissions from GTH include 2009's Best of Times by Youngyooth Thongkonthun and 2005's The Tin Mine by Jira Maligool.
Thailand began submitting Oscar hopefuls in 1985, intermittingly at first, but annually from 1997, with entries by such names as MC Chatrichalerm Yukol, Bhandit Rittakol, Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. So far, none have made the final short list of nominees.
Update: The Nation's Soopsip column has more background on the choice. Tang Wong would have been the first choice, but it was released just two days too early for next year's Oscars (it should have been chosen last year, I think). Other contenders were Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy and The Last Executioner. They garnered votes of 4-3, while Teacher's Diary got a 5-2 vote from the Federation committee.
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.
"Before Bittorrent, we have him," reads the tagline to The Master, which again has the Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy director looking back on outmoded media, much as he did with his experimental romance 36, which evoked memories of 36-exposure rolls of camera film.
Here's more about The Master:
The Master is a documentary aiming to look into the movie piracy problem in Thailand and worldwide. It tells the story of a man who opened a bootleg video store that introduced art and rare films from around the world to Thai customers. He only sold films that have no distributor in Thailand. He didn't get rich from this shop, but he created this shop because of his love of cinema.
A coin has two sides. Movie piracy is illegal. It devastates filmmakers and movie industry. Still, it is difficult to judge what he did is morally right or wrong. The project means to show the movie piracy cycle and the effects of movie piracy in both ways, bad and good.
SYNOPSIS
In 2014, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit produces and distributes the DVD of his own film Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy in Thailand. A few days after the release date, bootleg DVDs of the film could be found everywhere. On the day that his film is copied, Nawapol recalls that 10 years before, he used to be a customer of a bootleg video shop in Thailand called 'Van Vdo', which sold bootleg videos of art films that have no distributor in Thailand. It was the only place in Thailand that allowed him to discover the works of directors such as Wong Kar-wai or Takeshi Kitano.
Nawapol remembers 'Mr. Van' the owner of the shop, which closed down many years ago. What Mr. Van did is illegal, but videos from his shop has influence on Thai filmmakers. Young directors grew up with videos from his shop. Some film critics ordered 10 videos from the shop every week. Some film directors worked for the shop, while some were angry when they knew their films were on the shelves of this shop.
In the late '90s when cinemas in Thailand has no space for art films, was it the right thing to sell bootleg copies of those films so Thai people could watch it?
Is Mr. Van like Robin Hood? Is it right to violate copyrights for the sake of 'education'? Is 'Violate copyright for the sake of education' just another excuse of careless customers who never care for the cost of making a film? Nawapol goes back to Mr. Van again to explore his life, and to look for the answers of those questions.
Producers on The Master are Soros Sukhum, Donsaron Kovitvanitcha, Cattleya Paosrijareon and Attaphon Nabangxang.
Pen-ek's Samui Song, meanwhile, was launched earlier this year with an announcement at the Hong Kong fest. The drama, which has shades of Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, is about a young woman (Chermarn Boonyasak) with husband who falls under the influence of a cult leader (Vithaya Pansringarm). It's produced by Pen-ek's Headshot partner Raymond Phathanavirangoon along with Arunee Srisuk, Rasarin Tanalerttararom.
And there's Nonzee, who made a comeback earlier this year with the weepy teen drama Timeline. His APM pitch will be The Two Kings, produced by Henry Ko and Sandra Gaviria.
Other projects include Diamond Island by Cambodia's Davy Chou, Fowl by the Philippines' Brillante Mendoza, and Full-Moon Party by Vietnam's Dang Di Phan.
The Asian Project Market runs from October 6 to 8 as part of the Busan International Film Festival, October 2 to 11.
Award-winning writer-director Kongdej Jaturanrasamee (คงเดช จาตุรันต์รัศมี) will add another piece of hardware to his trophy shelf – the Silpathorn Award – announced yesterday during a press conference at the Culture Ministry's new Ratchadamnoen Contemporary Art Centre in Bangkok.
The Silpathorn, honoring mid-career Thai contemporary artists, was inaugurated 10 years ago by the ministry's Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC). It was presented annually until 2010, and has been on hiatus for the past four years.
For Kongdej, the Silpathorn adds to his haul this year for his latest film, Tang Wong (ตั้งวง), an indie drama that critiqued contemporary Thai culture with a story about four teenage boys who have to learn a traditional dance in order to fulfill a vow to a spirit-house shrine. Made with the support of the OCAC, Tang Wong premiered in last year's Berlin fest, and went on to win several awards at home, including four Golden Swans at the Subhanahongsa Awards, as well as gongs from the Bangkok Critics Assembly and the Thai Director Association.
Tang Wong was Kongdej's second feature as an independent director, following his quirk-filled 2012 psychological drama P-047, which was also a big award winner. His 2003 debut feature, the coming-of-age sex comedy Sayew, was released by Sahamongkol Film International, as was his sophomore effort, the comedy-drama Cherm (Midnight My Love), in which comedian Petchtai Wongkamlao made a dramatic breakthrough as a lonely taxi driver who strikes up a relationship with a massage-parlor girl. Kongdej then jumped over to GTH for 2008's Kod (Handle Me with Care), about a three-armed man on a road trip with a large-breasted woman.
Kongdej has also penned numerous mainstream-industry screenplays, including 2004's weepy romance The Letter, Tony Jaa's lost-elephant adventure Tom-Yum-Goong, the amnesiac Ananda Everingham drama Me ... Myself, Nonzee Nimibutr's high-seas swashbuckler Queens of Langkasuka, Kantana Animation's Echo Planet (for which he also provided voice talent and an original song) and last year's teen horror Last Summer.
His latest efforts, Tang Wong and P-047, were independent, with Soros Sukhum as producer. Their next project is So Be It, which has been picked up by the new Thai indie outfit Mosquito Films Distribution.
Previous Silpathorn film honorees are Pen-ek Ratanruang (2004), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2005), Wisit Sasanatieng (2006), Thunska Pansittivorakul (2007), Nonzee Nimibutr (2008), Pimpaka Towira (2009) and Aditya Assarat (2010).
According to The Nation, other Silpathorn Award honorees this year are conceptual artist Surasi Kusolwong, actress-playwright Jarunan Phantachat of B-Floor Theatre, architect Suriya Umpansiritatana, writer Rewat Panpipat, conductor Vanich Potavanich, typographer Pairoj Teeraprapar and product designer Chaiyut Plypetch.
Each winner receives 100,000 baht and a commemorative lapel pin. The awards presentation ceremony will be held on July 17 along with an exhibition that will run through July 27.
