I’m excited about the Bangkok film festival
Last year was pretty fabulous when I got to talk with Catherine Deneuve.

Read on…

The capital of Thailand is to host the 5th Bangkok International Film Festival in July and it looks to be the most exciting one yet. The format has changed a little from previous festivals, but under the focused direction of the Thai film industry, this event will be more in keeping with the country, and the region. Celebrities and film stars from Asia and from the international filmmaking community are expected to arrive in Bangkok in July to enjoy a 10-day extravaganza of film and cinema. The emphasis is very much on the quality, direction and production of the entries for the festival.

The ASEAN countries will have their own special category, and there will also be special sections devoted to the Greek cinema and legendary filmmaker Luis Bunuel. In other categories there are awards to be made for documentary films and short film features. As ever, the Bangkok International Film Festival has attracted a wide range of entries from across the globe. There are confirmed entries from the USA, the UK, Japan and Korea. Thailand will naturally be represented strongly with a number of productions in drama, and romantic comedy. The country’s movie output is impressive this year, with no fewer than 3 Thai films being shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

There are also going to be workshops and, as in all the great film conventions, a good deal of buying and selling. This is the place where a filmmaker can be catapulted to fame, or left wondering why his epic did not catch the eye of the distributors. In this aspect, the Bangkok Film Market will be held in one of Asia’s finest shopping locations, The Siam Paragon, whilst the featured films will be shown at the brand new SF World Cinema at Central World Shopping Centre.

Bangkok, of course, is a great place to hold a festival such as this. There are the fantastic hotels, some of whom are already geared up to host guests for the event. Visitors coming for this celebration of film will be able to enjoy five-star luxury and the customary Thai hospitality, for which the country is rightly famous. That, along with the well known fact that the Thai capital is one of the most exciting cities in the world, will ensure that all those interested in the cinema will flock to Thailand in July for this event. The dates for the Bangkok International Film Festival are 19th to the 29th July 2007.

Regular updates will be made available as the films and the celebrities make their way onto the ever growing list of star attractions coming to The City of Angels.
BANGKOK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL UNFURLS IN JULY
FOCUS ON ASIAN CINEMA

More than 100 films from about 30 countries will feature in the fifth Bangkok International Film Festival (BIFF) that is scheduled to be held from 19-29 July, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The festival, which was to be held in January, was postponed due to the unavailability of screening theatres. “But we are all set to go now,” said Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, Chief Officer of the BIFF, who will be overseeing the festival, this year. He stated that it would be a “streamlined festival, where we’ve trimmed off the excesses and added, “The focus will be on quality films which is really the heart of any film festival.” “This year, our main focus will be to provide the movie-loving audiences of Bangkok, with the films they’ve been waiting to see.” While there would still be a Red Carpet Opening night, it would be on a more modest scale as compared to previous festivals, in keeping with the Sufficiency Economy Theory of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

There will be more emphasis on the cultural and technical parts of the festival. “Promoting cultural events is an important part of TAT’s activities,” informed Chattan. The Program Director of this year’s BIFF, is Kriengsak Silakong, who served in the same capacity when the festival was first started in 2003, before moving on to the World Film Festival of Bangkok. The former theatre stalwart from Bangkok said he hoped to work out a good program, with his team. The BIFF would have a strong Asian focus this year, with more movies and movie stars from the Asian region making their presence felt.

The jury members would also be mostly from Asia. “Asian films are in vogue now,” said Silakong, who visited festivals in Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and India, to acquire movies. The final stop, of course, will be the Cannes Film Festival, in May. Chattan stated that the
TAT would possibly hold a small function to announce the BIFF in Cannes, along the lines of the modest reception they held at the Hong Kong Film Festival recently. As for the different sections of the festival, there would be three competition sections that would present the Golden Kinnaree Awards to the winners – International, ASEAN and Short Films. The ASEAN category is unique to this festival, and this year boasts of an arresting package of 10 films from the newly developed cinema of countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. The Short Film Competition is new to this year’s BIFF.

An important highlight of this year’s festival is that many of the competition films will have Thai sub-titles. The World Cinema section has about 20 movies from countries like Germany, France, Denmark, the U.K., while the Asian Cinema section has nearly 30 films from the region. “The
Asian films contribute to more than 50% of this year’s festival,” said Silakong. As for the Thai Panorama section, he said they had a rich crop of 12 newly released films. There was also the possibility that the Opening Film would be from the kingdom, too.

Other unique features at this year’s festival, which are still being negotiated, are a special package of Greek movies, as well as a cluster of rare films from French master Luis Bunuel. A Lifetime Achievement Award would be given to the great special effects guru Ray Harryhausen. The festival also plans to have a tribute to a well-known director or actor, with five of the artist’s movies screened, in his presence. This is still being finalised. “We also plan to hold seminars and workshops, which are a vital part of any film festival,” said Chattan. He said the seminars would discuss topical subjects like anti-piracy, censorship and film shooting in Thailand. They would be conducted by well-known Professor Kittisak Suwannabhokin. There would also be an animation workshop, conducted by a well-known animation company from Okinawa, with a special focus on clay animation.

An important aspect of the BIFF would be the Bangkok Film Market that is being organized by the Federation of National Film Association of Thailand, from 23-25 July. With the big demand for Asian cinema on the world festival circuit, Chattan said the Film Market would give a boost to the sale of Asian and Thai films.

This year’s festival will be held in 8 swanky theatres of the plush SF cinema complex, at the new Central World Shopping Centre. Only the Film Market will be held at the Siam Paragon, last year’s festival venue. The Opening and Closing films would be held in the new 800-seat auditorium of the SF cinema complex at Central World. The smaller 200-seat theatres rooms would be the screening venues for the other films. “We want to ensure good audiences by holding the right movies in the right-sized halls,” said Chattan. The tickets would be reasonably priced and discounts would be offered to students. Students would be targeted at the festival, with pre-festival publicity campaigns on the U-Channel TV network, as well as talk shows with movie stars in colleges. There would be a concerted effort to spread information about the festival, both locally and internationally, through posters, campaigns, advertisements, and Internet promotions.