Bangkok Cinema Scene special: Bangkok IndieFest, August 6-8, 2010

The first Bangkok Indiefest is set for August 6 to 8 at HOF Art, about a three-minute walk from Ratchadapisek MRT station on Ratchadapisek Road.

Produced by Camerado Southeast Asia in association with Location Thailand, Bangkok IndieFest promises to be "a cross-cultural cinematic showcase of compelling non-mainstream independent films and videos from Thailand and the rest of the world."

The lineup (PDF) has around 80 features and shorts. The selection includes new international features, documentaries, animation, mockumentaries, underground cinema, "midnight movies", bad sci-fi, music movies, rock docs and "edutainment movies", as well as new independent Thai movies and videos.

The fest opens on Friday (PDF) at 1 with a package of short docs. Among them is Bye Bye Now, a bittersweet tribute to the disappearing Irish phone box. There's also 10 Years to Nashville, about a pair of Polish ladies wanting to visit Music City, USA. And of regional interest is Keeping Them Safe, about a young woman who works in a Cambodian karaoke bar having to make tough choices.

Short Docs II starts at 5 and includes Wander Cinema by Panu Saeng-xuto, which goes behind the scenes of Thailand's mobile cinema operators. There will also be The Last Elephants in Thailand, a documentary by Donald Tayloe and Michelle Mizner on the sad welfare of Thailand's pachyderms.

Animation starts at 9 on Friday with more than a dozen animated shorts. Australian artist and animator Peter Allen, the director of the flipbook animated Flip and The Cockrel's Egg, will be present.

Those are all in the Main Room. There's also a Sidebar Screen, which will be showing features and have intervals for an Open Movie Jam, in which filmmakers are invited to screen any short (within reason) that's under 10 minutes.

Sidebar features on Friday are the Spanish immigrants tale Sombras with director Oriol Canals in attendance; 34th and Park, about a film professor who decides to live as a beggar; director Cameron Pearson will be in attendance; Australian photojournalist David Bradbury's love affair with the lens and Asia in My Asian Heart and the horror comedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead.

Saturday's screenings (PDF) start at 11.30 with Shorts I. Among them are Drown by Nottapon Boonprakob and Kamikire Ichimai, with director Momi Yamashita attending.

Shorts II starts at 3.15 and includes Takeo, about a threatening stranger showing up at a mother's door, with director Omar Samad in attendance. Also showing will be La Lampadina by Thai Pradithkesorn and Song of the River by Krissada Tipchaimeta, about a new park ranger having to close his park to fishing.

Very Short Movies starts at 7 on Saturday, with 15 short films screening in under 90 minutes.

The Sidebar on Saturday has the features World Vote Now by Joel B. Marsden and East Planet by Hiroshi Toda, and Mørke Sjeler by César Ducasseas well as a repeat of the Animation program.

Area 51 closes the Saturday screening, with experimental shorts, among them Wet Nana Dreamscape, a composite-photo montage of a young man finding "double happiness" at Soi Cowboy. Director Jimmie Wing and the electronic-music soundtrack composer Lim Giong will be in attendance.

Sunday's program (PDF) has a repeat of the Short Docs and Short Docs II shows, the Very Short Movies and Area 51 in the Main Room. Shorts I and Shorts II will screen in the Sidebar. Also in the Sidebar on Sunday are the features Retour au Pays des Ames (Return to the Land of Souls), a documentary on animistic rites and contemporary African society by Jordi Esteva and Die Entbehrlichen (The Dispensibles) by Andreas Arnstedt, about a boy who hides his father's suicide so he won't be sent to an orphanage.

Each night will end in time for viewers to catch the last MRT train.

There's also an audience-award vote, with ballots handed out for each category.

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: 2010 Director's Screen Project

Begun in 2008, the indie distributor and production-marque Extra Virgin is relaunching its Director's Screen Project, bringing distinctive, thought-provoking independent arthouse films from Thailand and elsewhere to the Bangkok multiplexes.

There are two features, Mundane History and Agrarian Utopia, and a package of short films. Each will run for four weeks at SFX the Emporium, the same venue as the recent highly successful screening for indie director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Cannes Golden Palm winner, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

Showtimes are nightly at 7 with additional Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2. On Saturdays there will special activities after the evening screening where the directors will hold Q&A sessions.

The series starts on August 5 with the long-awaited local theatrical release of Mundane History (เจ้านกกระจอก, Jao Nok Krajok). Since premiering at last year's Pusan International Film Festival and opening the World Film Festival of Bangkok, director Anocha Suwichakornpong's family and social drama has been on a tear through the festival circuit, winning the VPRO Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and most recently Transilvania Trophy at the Transilvania International Film Festival. It's also screened at the Munich Film Festival, Paris Cinema International Film Festival, and is in competition at the Era New Horizons International Film Festival.

Next on September 2 will be Agrarian Utopia (สวรรค์บ้านนา , Sawan Baan Na), a beautiful, digitally shot experimental documentary on the hardships of rice farming by Uruphong Raksasad. It's also been ripping up the festival circuit. It won the Unesco Award at last year's Asia Pacific Screen Awards, best narrative feature at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, and most recently a jury prize at the Millennium International Documentary Film Festival. Earlier it was in the Berlin Documentary Forum, where The Nation's correspondent caught up with Uruphong before the filmmaker jetted off to upstate New York for Colgate College's Flaherty Seminar. It will also be screened in the NETPAC Festival in New Delhi among many others. It screened at the Bangkok International Film Festival last year, and having seen it there, I want to see it again. It's definitely something to appreciate on the big screen.

On September 30, closing out the first leg of this year's series, will be a package of shorts by Aditya Assarat, headlined by Phuket, a drama about a South Korean actress (Lim Su-jeong from I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK and Sorry, I Love You). She's on an island vacation, trying to escape fans and phone calls. She gets a unique tour of old Phuket from her hotel limo driver, played by veteran leading man Sorapong Chatree. The short was commissioned as a tourism promotion and foreign-relations effort by South Korea and Thailand. Two other shorts by the recent Silpathorn Award laureate will be shown, 2004's Boy Genius and 2005's The Sigh. Together, the two shorts are the first two parts of Aditya's Boy Genius trilogy.

The Director's Screen films will show for one month at SFX the Emporium in Bangkok, with daily showtimes at 7 and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2. Throughout the release period, there will be special activities on Saturdays after the evening show, where the films’ directors will do a Q&A session.

The Director's Screen series was launched in 2008 with Aditya Assarat's Wonderful Town. Already an award-winner on the international circuit, the limited release secured a spot for the haunting romantic drama in the local awards, where it swept many top prizes, including five trophies at the industry's top kudos, the Subhanahongsa Awards. With the Director's Screen, it probably would not have secured a local release and would not have had such great success here.

Pimpaka Towira's sprawling political documentary, The Truth Be Told: The Cases Against Supinya Klangnarong, was the second film on the Director's Screen slate in 2008. It's now available for online viewing at Asia Pacific Films.

This year’s Director’s Screen Project is supported by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture, and with a new technical partner in ACD Network, Singapore.

"The strengthened commitment and shared vision of all the project’s partners will confirm the longevity of the initiative and more titles are set to be released in the next phases of the project in the coming year," says Extra Virgin.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening July 29-August 4, 2010

Millennium 1: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo


When Swedish journalist and writer Stieg Larsson died in 2004 at age 50, he left behind the unpublished manuscripts to a trilogy of mystery novels that he wrote for his own enjoyment.

The books, which became known as the Millennium Trilogy, were a much-acclaimed sensation in Sweden. They have since been translated and have made Larsson the second best-selling author in the world.

The primary characters are a pair of crimefighters: crusading activist investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, a tattooed eccentric young computer hacker with a photographic memory.

The novels were adapted last year into a trilogy of epic, critically acclaimed Swedish films.

A Hollywood remake is in the works, with David Fincher slated to direct. George Clooney, Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt were among the names mentioned for the part of Mikael, though Daniel Craig is now reported to have closed a deal for the role. Kristen Stewart, Ellen Page and Carey Mulligan are among actresses expressing interest in the part of Lisbeth.

In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Mikael (Michael Nyqvist) and Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) are asked to investigate the 40-year-old disappearance of a woman from a powerful family. They link the case to grotesque murders that took place at the time and uncover a dark and appalling family history.

Critical reception is overwhelmingly positive, though sensitive viewers should be warned about the graphic violence. It's also a rather long movie, running for two and a half hours.

House on RCA is bringing all three of the Millennium movies to Bangkok. Millennium 2: The Girl Who Played with Fire starts August 19 and Millennium 3: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest on August 25. It's in Swedish with English and Thai subtitles. Rated 18+.

---

Also opening


The Last Airbender – M. Night Shyamalan adapts the fantasy cartoon series that aired on the Nickelodeon channel in the U.S. about a boy hero named Aang, the last of his kind who can control all four elements. He leads his friends in an epic battle with the Fire Nation. Noah Ringer stars as Aang with Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone as his friends in the Southern Water Tribe. Cliff Curtis is Fire Lord Ozai with Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire as his brooding son Zuko. The movie has a lot of computer-generated special effects and was retrofitted after production into 3D. It's been controversial because many of the main characters, who were Asian in the cartoon series, are portrayed by Caucasian actors in a common Hollywood practice called "facepainting", a controversy that also dogged the recent Prince of Persia. Critical reception is overwhelmingly negative, with the movie slammed for overblown special effects, an incomprehensible plot, laughable dialogue and a general sense of joylessness. At a press conference in Mexico, Shyamalan went on the defensive when a reporter asked him why his movies since The Sixth Sense have gotten worse and worse. “If I thought like you, I’d kill myself. ... Your impression of my career isn’t my impression of my career, it’s something you read on Google ..." In 3D in some cinemas. Rated G.

---

Also showing


FCCT-NETPAC Asian Film Festival – The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand's series of films accoladed by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema continues this week with Akasa Kusum (Flowers of the Sky), directed by Prasanna Vithanage, who's considered the pioneer of Sri Lanka's New Wave. It's the winner of multiple awards, including the NETPAC Award at the Granada Festival in Cines del Sur, Spain, for "its strong portrayal of female characters whose lives, regrets and new beginnings are depicted in a delicate yet convincing way." The doyenne of Sri Lankan cinema, Malini Fonseka, portrays Sandhya, an aging movie star who rents a room in her home to movie "artistes", most of whom use it for their trysts. Scandal erupts when a young married actress (Dilhani Ekanayake) is caught with her actor-lover in her own home. Shalika then moves into Sandhya's house and the two become close friends. Suddenly, someone totally unknown and unexpected from Sandhya’s past reappears. Fonseka was a nominee for last year's Asian Pacific Screen Awards for her performance. It screens at 8pm on Thursday, July 29. Admission is 150 baht for non-members.


Legend of Mae Nak – Mae Nak Phra Khanong (แม่นาคพระโขนง) is an enduring ghost story, said to have a basis in fact, about a woman in the canal community of Phra Khanong in the 1800s, who died in childbirth while her husband was away fighting in a war. Her love was so strong, that when the husband returned, she and her child appeared to him to still be alive, and terrorized any neighbors who would dare tell him the truth. There's a shrine to the ghost wife at Wat Mahabutsoi off Soi On Nut. The story has been made into film more than a dozen times, and there have been TV series and stage plays based on it. The first film was made in 1959. Others have included Nonzee Nimibutr's much-acclaimed 1999 version, Nang Nak and even a Mae Nak in America in the 1970s. British director Mark Duffield cast Mae Nak as a ghostly protector of a young couple living in her house in 2005's Ghost of Mae Nak. The 2008 animated feature Nak had her as a candy-colored heroine teaming up with other famous Thai ghosts to save her child from being used by evil foreign ghosts. The various films will be discussed at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom on Saturday, July 31, starting at 1, with a screening of the 1995 short Mae Nak by Pimpaka Towira, which seeks to deconstruct the myth of Mae Nak by telling her side of the story. The talk will be in Thai, and I'm not sure the short film will have English subtitles. For details, call (02) 482 2013-14 ext 111.

The Adventure of Sudsakorn – The late animator Payut Ngaokrachang's seminal animated feature is based on an episode from Phra Aphai Mani, a 30,000-line epic poem by Sunthorn Phu, and depicts the fantastic adventures of the young son of a mermaid and a minstrel prince. It's screening at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, at 11am every Sunday until October 3. Call (02) 482 2013-14, ext 111.

Thai Short Film Marathon – Around 500 shorts are being shown in the selection round for next month's 14th Thai Short Film & Video Festival. It's a unique chance to take part in something I don't think any other film festival does. Screening are in the Bangkok Art and Culture Center's fourth-floor meeting room from 5 to 8.30 weekdays and 11 to 8.30 Saturday and Sunday, until August 1.

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: Indy Spirit Project with Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Six short films by Cannes Golden Palm winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul will be presented by the filmmaker himself on Tuesday, July 27 (Buddhist Lent Day, a major Thai public holiday) at SF Cinema City MBK as part of Bioscope magazine's Indy Spirit Project.

The six shorts are:

• Luminous People, a segment from 2007's State of the World project, which depicts a family spreading a father's ashes during a boat trip on the Mekong. It was also featured in the Traces of Siam Smile exhibition at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre in 2008.
• My Mother's Garden, a 2007 work commissioned by Christian Dior.
• Windows, from 1999.
• Ghost of Asia, from 2005, part of the Tsunami Digital Short Films that was curated by Apichatpong and screened at the World Film Festival of Bangkok. It's co-directed with Christelle Lheureux and stars Sakda Kaewbuadee as a "ghost" being controlled by seaside urchins.
• Emerald (Morakot), a haunting 2007 work featuring Sakda and Jenjira Pongpas as they inhabit the abandoned Morakot hotel on Bangkok's Soi Thonglor. It was part of the Tomyam Pladib exhibition at the Jim Thompson Art Center in 2008.
• Vampire, a chilling piece done in 2007 for Louis Vuitton, about a hunter tracking a blood-sucking bird. It was featured at last year's Bangkok ... Bananas!! art festival

The show time is 5pm.

Tickets are 150 baht, available by calling (081) 357 2716.

(Via Bioscope)

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening July 22-28, 2010

Tukky Jao Ying Khai Kob

"Tukky" Sudarat Butrprom got her start in showbiz as a wardrobe assistant and now she's a star.

Surely her true-life story will have parallels with her latest movie.

The comic actress, who's a fixture in the lineup of comedians in films by Poj Arnon and Mum Jokmok, as well as Workpoint TV shows, takes the lead in Tukky Jao Ying Khai Kob ตุ๊กกี้เจ้าหญิงขายกบ, roughly, "Tukky, the frog princess").

It's directed by Pornchai Hongrattanaporn, better known as Mr. Pink, who jumps over to Sahamongkol Film International for this comedy after co-directing the romantic comedy-dramas My Valentine and Before Valentine at Five Star. He debuted in 2004 with the colorful cult-hit comedy Bangkok Loco (ทวารยังหวานอยู่), which was done at RS Film.

In Tukky, the little leading lady is an unattractive girl who magically becomes the princess of an isolated fairytale realm, where she is the heiress to the throne.

She's supported by her chief aide, singer-actor Louis Scott, the buddy of Ananda Everingham who's featured in the Sawasdee Bangkok. short Bangkok Blues. He acted in the 1998 Five Star feature Wildest Days back in his teenage years, and performed in the boyband rap duo Raptor with Joni Anwar.

Tukky also has the usual cast of clowns, including Choosak "Nong Chachacha" Iamsuk, Teng Terdtheng and Kom Chuanchuen.

Plenty of parody of the European-style royal culture is in store from the looks of the trailer. Rated G.

---

Also opening


The Sorcerer's Apprentice – Nicolas Cage reteams with his Disney cohorts in the National Treasure franchise, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Jon Turteltaub for this effects-heavy action-comedy inspired by the Mickey Mouse segment of the animated Fantasia. Cage plays 1,500-year-old sorcerer Balthazar Blake who claims Merlin as a mentor. He needs an apprentice, so he picks Jay Baruchel, the Canadian comic actor who voiced the lead in How to Train Your Dragon and co-starred in Tropic Thunder. They will battle Balthazar's evil nemesis, Maxim (Alfred Molina). Monica Bellucci also stars. Critical reception is veering toward negative, despite the likable cast and loads of CGI spectacle. Rated G.


Hot Summer Days – Intertwining love stories unfold as the summer heat wave engulfs the Chinese territories. A chauffeur (Jacky Cheung) tries to woo a foot-massage worker (Rene Liu) with his text messages; an air-conditioner repairman (Nicholas Tse) is interested in a biker chick named Ding Dong (Barbie Hsu); a master sushi chef (Daniel Wu) spurns the love of a writer ironically named Wasabi (Vivian Hsu); a country boy (Xinbo Fu) tries to impress a teddy-bear factory worker (Angela Baby) by standing out in the hot noon sun for 100 days; and a photographer (Yihong Duan) and his assistant attempt to track down a woman they believed cursed him into blindness. There are numerous cameos, including Shaw Brothers' martial-arts legend Gordon Liu and screen siren Maggie Cheung. Hot Summer Days was released in China and Hong Kong during this past February's Valentine's Day holiday. Critical reception is mixed. In Chinese with English and Thai subtitles at the Lido.

---

Also showing


Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – The Golden Palm winner at the Cannes Film Festival ends its limited run in Bangkok on Sunday. Apichatpong Weerasethakul's film is the strange tale of a dying man, living out his last days in the countryside, surrounded by his loved ones, including the ghost of his late wife and the monkey spirit of his long-lost son. Showtimes are nightly at 7.20 with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 at SFX the Emporium.

Italian Film Festival – Organized by the Italian Embassy, 10 films are being unspooled from Friday until Wednesday at SFX the Emporium. Click the link for the full schedule.


FCCT-NETPAC Asian Film Festival – Postponed from April, the FCCT's series of NETPAC-award-winning films finally gets under way tonight with Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, a romance set against the backdrop of cultural clashes during a bus trip in India. Click the link for the full schedule.

The Adventure of Sudsakorn – The late animator Payut Ngaokrachang's seminal animated feature is based on an episode from Phra Aphai Mani, a 30,000-line epic poem by Sunthorn Phu, and depicts the fantastic adventures of the young son of a mermaid and a minstrel prince. It's screening at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, at 11am every Sunday until October 3. Call (02) 482 2013-14, ext 111.

Thai Short Film Marathon – Around 500 shorts are being shown in the selection round for next month's 14th Thai Short Film & Video Festival. It's a unique chance to take part in something I don't think any other film festival does. Screening are in the Bangkok Art and Culture Center's fourth-floor meeting room from 5 to 8.30 Tuesday to Friday and 11 to 8.30 Saturday and Sunday, until August 1, except Mondays when the BACC is closed.

Bangkok Cinema Scene Special: Italian Film Festival 2010

The Embassy of Italy and the Italian commercial office in conjunction with SFX the Emporium Cinema are organizing the Bangkok Italian Film Festival 2010 from July 23 to 28.

Ten movies are being shown, with daily showtimes starting at 1 on Saturday and Sunday and 3 on weekdays.

SF cinemas has a Movie Pack, with five seats for Bt500. Individual ticket prices are Bt120.

Here's the line-up:

L'uomo in più (One Man Up) – Il Divo director Paolo Sorrentino's 2001 debut is a comedy-drama about two men who share the same name whose lives unfold in parallel. One is an aging crooner played by Toni Servillo and the other is a soccer player (Andrea Renzi) with only a few years left in his career and is looking to take a coaching job.

Dopo Mezzanotte (After Midnight) – Turin's cavernous Mole Antonelliana (Museum of Cinema( in Turin, Italy) is the setting for this 2004 romantic comedy about a night watchman coming to the aid of young woman who's on the run from the police. Winner of the the David di Donatello Award for best visual effects as well as a nominee in eight other categories, including best actor for Giorgio Pasotti and best director for Davide Ferrario.

Galantuomini (Brave Men) – Edoardo Winspeare directs his 2008 drama about a judge comes returning to his hometown to find out that his old friend is dead and the woman he loved (David di Donatello best-actress nominee Donatella Finocchiaro) is now working for the local mafia.

Italian Dream – A hotel receptionist and small-time gambler (Ivano Marescotti) dreams of one day opening his own eatery makes a Faustian pact with an eccentric millionaire (Teco Celio). Sandro Baldoni directs this 2007 comedy.

Texas – Fausto Paravidino's 2005 drama is set in a small town in northern Italy where everybody knows each other and focuses on party-happy twentysomethings hanging out and drinking. One of the guys (Ricardo Scamarcio) starts two-timing his girlfriend (Iris Fusetti) with a married schoolteacher (Valeria Golino.)

Il Posto dell 'Anima (The Soul's Haven) – Three workers of a tire factory lead the struggle against their U.S. owner who's seeking to shut them down. Riccardo Milani directs this 2003 workplace comedy.

Piano, Solo – This 2007 biographical drama is about pianist Luca Flores, portrayed by Kim Rossi Stuart, a best-actor nominee for Italy's top film honors, the David di Donatello Awards.

La Spettatrice (The Spectator) – A lonely translator (Barbora Bobulova) becomes infatuated with a man (Andrea Renzi) who lives in the apartment across the street. She follows him and discovers he has a girlfriend (Brigitte Catillon) and insinuates herself into the woman's life in order to get close to the man. Paolo Franchi directs.

La Capagira (My Head is Spinning) – Petty criminals look for a mislaid drug shipment and keep the cops at bay in their illegal video-poker parlor in this 2000 crime comedy by Alessandro Piva, winner of that year's David di Donatello Award for Best New Director.

Pesi Leggieri (Lightweight) – This 2002 boxing drama is directed by Enrico Pau.

And here's the schedule:

Thursday, July 22

• 18:00 – One Man Up (L'uomo in più), gala opening (black tie, invitation only)

Friday, July 23

• 15:00 – After Midnight (Dopo Mezzanotte)
• 17:00 – Brave Men (Galantuomini)
• 19:15 – Italian Dream

Saturday, July 24

• 13:00 – Texas
• 15:20 – The Soul's Haven (Il Posto dell 'Anima)
• 17:40 – Piano, Solo
• 20:00 – The Spectator (La Spettatrice)

Sunday, July 25

• 13:00 – My Head is Spinning (La Capagira)
• 14:45 – Pesi Leggeri
• 16:45 – One Man Up (L'uomo in più)
• 20:00 – After Midnight (Dopo Mezzanotte)

Monday, July 26

• 15:00 – Texas
• 17:15 – The Soul's Haven (Il Posto dell 'Anima)
• 19:30 – Piano, Solo

Tuesday, July 27

• 15:00 – The Spectator (La Spettatrice)
• 17:15 – My Head is Spinning (La Capagira)
• 19:00 – Pesi Leggeri

Wednesday, July 28

• 15:00 – Brave Men (Galantuomini)
• 17:10 – Italian Dream
• 19:15 – One Man Up (L'uomo in più)

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: FCCT-NETPAC Asian Film Festival

The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, in association with the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) will screen six NETPAC award-winning films over the next three months. The movies are from India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand.

NETPAC, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is a group of Asian filmmakers, screenwriters, festival programmers and academics. The organization is perhaps best known for its special jury panels at 23 film festivals, including the Bangkok International Film Festival.

It has previously organized conferences on Asian Cinema Heritage and Culture in New Delhi in 2007 and Kuala Lumpur in 2008.

NETPAC also holds the annual Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival in Indonesia.

In collaboration with Australia's Asia Pacific Screen Awards, there's the APSA NETPAC Development Prize, worth US$5,000 to an emerging Asian filmmaker.

NETPAC was also instrumental in the development of AsiaPacificFilms.com, a digital film library that streams artistic and culturally significant films from Asia and the Pacific.

NETPAC has also supported books on Asian cinema.

Many of these now-classic NETPAC award-winning films in the FCCT series will be screened during NETPAC's 2010 Imaging Asia conference in New Delhi from August 19-22. It includes a great line-up of films, among them Uruphong Raksasad's Agrarian Utopia (2009) and Nonzee Nimibutr's ghost romance, Nang Nak (1999), both NETPAC award winners.

The FCCT's film series starts on Thursday, July 22 with Mr. and Mrs. Iyer from India.

The opening was to have been in April, but was postponed because of the red-shirt protests that took place at the Rajprasong Intersection near the FCCT's penthouse club in the Maneeya building at the Chitlom skytrain station.

Admission for non-members is 150 baht and 100 baht more for anyone wanting the food or wine tastings that will offered by the various embassies and sponsors. Here's the line-up:


Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, India – The NETPAC winner from the Locarno International Film Festival in 2002, this drama was noted for its "courage in raising an issue of burning relevance, in a work of cinematic density". Helmed by actress-director Aparna Sen, with cinematography by director Gautam Ghosh, score by tabla maestro Zakir Hussain and a dynamic cast, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer was commercially successful in India and won awards around the world. It screened at the 2003 World Film Festival of Bangkok. A love story set against a background of religious fundamentalism and violence, Mrs. Iyer (Aparna Sen's daughter Konkona Sensharma) is a married conservative Brahmin woman who is travelling with her child by bus to meet her husband. She encounters Raja (Rahul Bose), a young wildlife photographer on the bus. The passengers and their different ages, backgrounds and religions, present a cross-section of India's multi-cultural society. The tenor of the proceedings changes when the bus is stopped by Hindu militants and the bus passengers become divided. Mrs. Iyer discovers that Raja is Muslim and in a panic, she calls him "Mr. Iyer" and they pose as husband and wife while they look for a way out of the violence. Before the screening, India's new ambassador, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, will provide a grand feast. Thursday, July 22, 8pm.


Akasa Kusum (Flowers of the Sky), Sri Lanka – Directed by Prasanna Vithanage, who's considered the pioneer of Sri Lanka's New Wave, this is the winner of multiple awards, including the NETPAC Award at the Granada Festival in Cines del Sur, Spain, last year for "its strong portrayal of female characters whose lives, regrets and new beginnings are depicted in a delicate yet convincing way." The doyenne of Sri Lankan cinema, Malini Fonseka, portrays Sandhya, an ageing movie star who rents a room in her home to movie "artistes", most of whom use it for their trysts. Scandal erupts when a young married actress (Dilhani Ekanayake) is caught with her actor-lover in her own home. Shalika the moves into Sandhya's house and the two become close friends. Suddenly, someone totally unknown and unexpected from Sandhya’s past reappears. Fonseka was a nominee for last year's Asian Pacific Screen Awards for her performance. Thursday, July 29, 8pm.


Eliana, Eliana, Indonesia – Director Riri Riza's 2002 drama won the NETPAC Award at the Singapore International Film Festival as well as a Dragons and Tigers special citation at the Vancouver festival. Eliana (Rachel Sayidina) arrives home at the end of a day in which she lost her job and kicked a man in the groin to find her mother (veteran actress Jajang C. Noer), whom she has not seen in five months. Her roommate, Heni (Henidar Amroe), is missing. So the mother and daughter go searching while they work out some of their own issues. Thursday, August 5, 8pm.


Nang Nak, Thailand – Winner of the NETPAC Award at the 2000 International Film Festival Rotterdam, Nang Nak was among the films of the "Thai New Wave" that signaled a resurgence of the Thai film industry as it sparked a new popularity for Thai films with domestic audiences and found a legion of fans and acclaim overseas. Directed by Nonzee Nimibutr from a script by Wisit Sasanatieng, it's a reworking of the famous ghost story "Mae Nak of Phra Nakhon", about a woman who dies in childbirth while her husband is away and when he returns he is unaware that she is a ghost. Inthira Charoenpura and Winai Kraibutr star as Nak and Mak. The screening is courtesy of Cinemasia and NETPAC. Thursday, August 26, 8pm.



Bakal Boys (Children Metal Divers), Philippines – Winner of the NETPAC Award at last year's Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, director Ralston Jover's docudrama is the heart-tugging story of children who scavenge for scraps in the murky waters of Manila Bay, often risking their lives in the process. The screening is courtesy of Queen Bessie LLC, Apogee Films and NETPAC. Thursday, Septmeber 23, 8pm.


$ELL-OU7! (Sell Out!), Malaysia – This musical satire won the NETPAC Award at the 2008 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival "for the consummate artistry with which the director satirizes business and media glitz, and his successful attempt at the presentation of the Malaysian context to an international audience, thus generating much optimism for a wider acceptance of Malaysian indie films". Director Yeo Joon Han skewers contemporary Malaysian culture, reality television and even pokes fun at independent-film directors and film festival awards. The story has struggling television presenter Rafflesia Pong (Jerrica Lai) stumbling on an idea for a reality-TV program that records people's dying words. Meanwhile, a young inventor at the Fony Corporation has developed a bean-curd machine that is turned down by the hilarious pair of pointy-haired bosses because it has too many useful functions and is too durable. $ELL OU7! also screened at the 2008 World Film Festival of Bangkok. The screening is courtesy of Amok Films & NETPAC. Thursday, September 30, 8pm.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening July 15-21, 2010

Inception


Director Christopher Nolan returns to his Memento-style thriller roots while infusing them with grand-scale Dark Knight-style action with Inception, a high-concept mind-bender about a corporate spy (Leonardo Di Caprio) who uses dream technology to obtain valuable secrets,

With characters chasing and shooting across fantastic landscapes that are all in people's heads, it's one of the most anticipated movies of the year.

The cast also features Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page as a pair of younger folks who work with Di Caprio's agency. The cast also includes such Nolan regulars as Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe and Cillian Murphy, as well as Pete Postlethwaite, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy and Tom Berenger.

Like Dark Knight, some of the bigger action setpieces were shot with the IMAX cameras, and Inception: The IMAX Experience is playing at Krungsri IMAX.

Critical reception so far is overwhelmingly favorable. Rating 15+.

---

Also opening


8E88 Fan Lanla (8E88 แฟนลั้ลลา ) – Wiroj Thongsew directs this comedy about a guy name Kun (Jaturong "Mokjok" Ornnorm) who is thrown in prison for a crime he didn't commit. There, the stripe-suited inmates perform a parody of the kids-singing "Que Sera, Sera" TV commercial that surely must annoy the heck out of everyone who sees it. And somehow a gang of cross-dressing criminals fits into the story. Along with the usual comedians who act in these Thai comedies, Atthama Chiwanitxaphan also stars as Kun's suffering fiancee Busaba. Rated 15+.


Pop Star (ดวงอันตราย, Duang Antarai) – Musician Jay Montonn Jira is already in cinemas in the road-trip romance That Sounds Good. Here he makes a big stretch as a pop singer. He's struggling with family and mental problems as a young woman becomes part of his inner circle. "Tak" Bongkot Kongmalai and Nirut Sirichanya also star. Rated 18+.


Despicable Me – Christopher Meledandri, the producer behind Horton Hears a Who, Robots and the Ice Age movies, moves from Fox Animation to Universal Pictures for that studio's first computer-animated feature. It's the story of mad scientist Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) who hatches a plot to become the world's greatest super-villain by stealing the moon. However, he's saddled with the care of a bunch of children. Russell Brand, Julie Andrews and Miranda Cosgrove are also featured in the voice cast. Expect to see sequels and short-film spin-offs of the supporting characters, the yellow, thumb-shaped minions who do Gru's bidding. Released in the U.S. last week, it was the No. 1 movie, beating Eclipse. Critical reception is highly favorable, with the consensus being Despicable Me is a "thoughtful, family-friendly treat with a few surprises". In 3D in some cinemas. Rated G.


Edge of Darkness – Only in Thailand would this movie be released at this time, when its star Mel Gibson, is under fire for racial slurs and death threats against his ex-girlfriend, which have become exposed in the midst of the former couple's bitter child-custody battle. Anywhere else in the world would avoid this movie like the plague, but not Thailand, where society cares not a jot for racial insensitivity, unless it's directed at Thai institutions. And perhaps there's a perverse pleasure in watching the Lethal Weapon and Mad Max star's latest movie he has another public meltdown. The blood-soaked revenge thriller has Gibson as a police detective investigating the death of his activist daughter, and he uncovers a conspiracy. The movie is adapted from 1985's much-acclaimed six-episode BBC mini-series that starred Bob Peck as a quietly methodical and determined policeman father and Joe Don Baker as the colorful CIA agent Darius Jedburgh. Ray Winstone takes over the Jedburgh role here. Critical reception is evenly mixed. Rated 15+.


Shanghai – This long-in-the-works 1940s-set spy thriller was actually filmed in Bangkok two years ago, but The Weinstein Company delayed its release until a busy calendar could be freed up to give it the exposure they wanted. Set in 1941 Shanghai in the months leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the story has John Cusack as an American investigating the death of his friend. He becomes romantically involved with a local woman, played by Gong Li, who's the wife of a triad leader (Chow Yun-fat). Ken Watanabe, David Morse, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Franka Potente and Rinko Kikuchi also star in this film-noir war thriller, directed by Mikael Håfström. Because it hasn't yet had a wide release, critical reception is still a bit mixed. Showing only at Paragon, Esplanade and some Major Cineplex branches. Rated 18+.


Kaidan – Ringu director Hideo Nakata turned to period horror in this 2007 film, with a story set in 19th century feudal Japan about the bad karma of one generation striking down members of the next. Romance serves as the blade. In Japanese with English and Thai subtitles at House. Rated 18+.


Monga – Teenage gangsters vie for turf in 1980s Taiwan in this gritty drama about brotherhood and betrayal involving a young guy named Mosquito (Mark Chao), who is inducted into a gang alongside mobster’s son Dragon (Rhydian Vaughan) and Monk (Ethan Ruan). Ma Ru-long and Ke Jia-yan also star. In Mandarin with English and Thai subtitles at Apex Siam Square. Rated 18+.

---

Also showing


Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – There's still time to this year's Golden Palm winner at the Cannes Film Festival. Apichatpong Weerasethakul's film is the strange tale of a dying man, living out his last days in the countryside, surrounded by his loved ones, including the ghost of his late wife and the monkey spirit of his long-lost son. Showtimes are nightly at 7.20 with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 until July 25 at SFX the Emporium.

Next Shot: Bangkok International Student Film Festival – Student films from Thailand and elsewhere, with screenings and workshops at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center, until Sunday.

The Adventure of Sudsakorn – The late animator Payut Ngaokrachang's seminal animated feature is based on an episode from Phra Aphai Mani, a 30,000-line epic poem by Sunthorn Phu, and depicts the fantastic adventures of the young son of a mermaid and a minstrel prince. It's screening at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, at 11am every Sunday until October 3. Call (02) 482 2013-14, ext 111.

Thai Short Film Marathon – Around 500 shorts are being shown in the selection round for next month's 14th Thai Short Film & Video Festival. The Marathon is on hiatus during the Bangkok International Student Film Festival, but starts back up on Tuesday in the Bangkok Art and Culture Center's fourth-floor meeting room, with screenings from 5 to 8.30 Tuesday to Friday and 11 to 8.30 Saturday and Sunday, until August 1, except Mondays when the BACC is closed.

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: Bangkok International Student Film Festival, July 13-18

The Next Shot: Bangkok International Student Film Festival opens today with a 2 o'clock ceremony at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.

Screenings start tomorrow in the first edition of the festival organized by the Film Department of the School of Communication Arts at Bangkok University. The screenings are in the fifth floor auditorium of the BACC, with the workshops in the center's fourth- and fifth-floor meeting rooms.

The schedule has student films from Thailand and other countries, as well as workshops.

Participating schools include Kun Shan University from Taiwan, Australia's Sydney Film School, Louis-Lumiere from France, Aalto University in Finland, Sam Spiegel Film and TV School in Israel and Germany's Baden-Wurttemberg Film Academy.

The foreign films will have English subtitles, but most of the Thai films likely will not.

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: Sudsakorn screening on Sundays at Film Archive

In memory of the late Thai animator Payut Ngaokrachang, the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom will screen his feature The Adventure of Sudsakorn (สุดสาคร) at 11am every Sunday from July 11 until October 3.

For now, it screens on Thai DVD only, with no English subtitles.

The story is based on an episode from Phra Aphai Mani, a 30,000-line epic poem by Sunthorn Phu, and depicts the fantastic adventures of the young son of a mermaid and a minstrel prince. The boy hero tames a dragon horse and encounters various characters in his travels.

Thailand's first animated feature, most of the intensely detailed work on it was done by Payut single-handedly, damaging his eyesight in the process.

It was his only feature film, and remains Thailand's sole cel-animated feature film.

Yet Payut's legacy is strong. The Ngaokrachang Prize for Animation at the annual Thai Short Film & Video Festival is a silver medallion designed by him, and dutifully presented to the winners up until last year.

Payut died on May 27 of this year at the age of 81.

For more details, call (02) 482 2013-14, ext 111.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening July 8-14, 2010

The Runaways


In the male-dominated world of hard rock in the 1970s, The Runaways were a runaway success during their four short years together. Not your average girl group, the Runaways stripped away the glamor and went for a tougher look and sound, pumping out such hits as "Cherry Bomb".

Among the members was Joan Jett, who went on to bigger success in her solo career, heading up Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and having huge hits with "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and "Crimson and Clover".

Adapted from the book Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway by the band's lead singer Cherie Currie, this movie focuses on the band's formation and the relationship between Jett and Currie.

They are portrayed by two cast members from The Twilight Saga, with Kristen Stewart as Jett and Dakota Fanning as Currie. They made The Runaways while on a break between New Moon and Eclipse.

The cast is rounded out with Stella Maeve as drummer Sandy West, Scout Taylor-Compton as lead guitarist Lita Ford and Alia Shawkat (from Arrested Development) as Robin, the band's bassist (the actual bassist Jackie Fox is not depicted). Michael Shannon portrays the colorful record producer and impresario Kim Fowley.

Critical reception is mixed, leaning to favorable, with the consensus being that the movie is disappointing as an in-depth coming-of-age biopic but is electrified by the music and strong performances from Shannon, Fanning and Stewart.

It's in limited release, at Paragon, Esplanade and House. Rated 18+.

---

Also opening

Kao Rak Thee Korea (เการัก ที่เกาหลี, Sorry Saranghaeyo) – Director Poj Arnon's comical-romantic-drama look at the Thai love of all things Korean has a Thai family going to South Korea to visit the locations of their favorite TV dramas and movies. One sister Kana (Haru Yamagushi) hopes to glimpse her favorite pop star, Ajoo (Noh Ah-joo). She's in for heartbreak while her guy pal Chai ("Guy" Ratchanon Sukprakob) is there to comfort her but secretly loves her. Meanwhile Kana's sister Mara (Tanya Ratnamalakun) wants to indulge in another favorite activity of Thai hi-so's: She wants cosmetic surgery. See why in the trailer at YouTube. Rated 13+.


Predators – Robert Rodriguez produces this relaunch the Predator franchise and make Adrien Brody an action star with this sci-fi drama. Brody is among a group of elite warriors who are kidnapped and transported to an alien world where they soon discover that they are the prey for a fierce species of fearsome hunters. Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Laurence Fishburne and Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo also star. The franchise started in 1987 with an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, had a 1990 sequel starring Danny Glover and then a few movies that merged with another 20th Century Fox movie franchise and had the Predators battling the Aliens. Rodriguez has stated the reboot is a direct sequel to the original. “Maybe people will forget all the bad sequels and only think this one and the original exist.” Nimrod Antal (Vacancy, Armored) directs. Critical reception is unbelievably positive. Rated 13+.

---

Also showing


Balibo – This film about the deaths of five Australian journalists in the 1975 invasion of East Timor by Indonesia, has been banned in Indonesia. The wife of one of the slain journalists, Shirley Shackleton, is in Jakarta this week, testifying on a petition against the ban. Directed by Robert Connolly, the movie stars Anthony LaPaglia, playing Roger East, an Australian journalist who investigated the deaths of the Balibo Five. With the permission of Connolly and distributor Contentfilm International, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand presents Balibo at 8 tonight (Thursday). The club is in the penthouse of the Maneeya Center at BTS Chitlom. Admission for non-members is 150 baht. Visit FCCThai.com for more details.


Thai Short Film Marathon – Around 500 shorts are being shown in the selection round for next month's 14th Thai Short Film & Video Festival. I think this is probably the only film festival in the world that opens screenings like this to the public. The idea is, students and independent filmmakers have made these films, and they need to watched by somebody, so why not everybody? Showtimes are 5 to 8.30 Tuesday through Friday and 11 to 8.30 on Saturday and Sunday, until August 1. There are no screenings on Mondays or from July 13 to 18. The screening space is the fourth-floor meeting room in the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.


Tropical Perspectives - Outside In / Inside Out – The Jim Thompson Art Center will show short films that examine encounters between Eastern and Western cultures. The screening program has four sections. First is I Am From Siam, a compilation of clips from the Thai Film Archive, mainly comprised of footage from the 1930s by the Topical Film Service of the Royal State Railway. Next is The Phi Ta Khon Project by Alex Kher. It was made in Dansai, a small town in the northern Thailand province of Loei, during the annual Phi Ta Khon ghost festival. Next is Old Hearts, a 9-minute video diary of a woman, directed by Anocha Suwichakornpong (Mundane History). And finally there's Burmese Man Dancing by Nok Paksanavin, the guest artist for this session. His 6-minute experimental documentary looks at the paranoia over Burmese laborers in Thailand, and is drawn from Thai people’s short written responses to a questionnaire, and put appear in a coded, unreadable language. The screenings start at 6 on Friday at the Jim Thompson Art Center, a short walk to the end of Kasemsan Soi 1, opposite the National Stadium.


Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – Audiences are still packing in the for the limited screening of this year's Golden Palm winner at the Cannes Film Festival. Apichatpong Weerasethakul's film is the strange tale of a dying man, living out his last days in the countryside, surrounded by his loved ones, including the ghost of his late wife and the monkey spirit of his long-lost son. See it! It's a trip. Showtimes are nightly at 7.20 with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 until July 25 at SFX the Emporium.

I Hate Luv Storys – Karan Johar produces this romantic comedy starring Imran Khan as a guy who, well, he hates love stories, and Sonam Kapoor as a young woman who's in love with the idea of love itself. In Hindi with English subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) on Saturday at 8 and at Major Cineplex Central Rama III on Sunday at 4. Call (089) 488 2620 or visit www.BollywoodThai.com.

---

Sneak preview


Inception – The Batman Begins and The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan returns to his Memento-style thriller roots with this mind-bender about a mercenary (Leonardo Di Caprio) who uses dream technology to obtain valuable secrets, with characters chasing and shooting across fantastic landscapes that are all in people's heads. It's one of the most anticipated movies of the year. The cast also features Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Pete Postlethwaite, Marion Cotillard and Michael Caine. The Krungsri IMAX has a sneak preview scheduled for 8pm on Wednesday July 14, a day before the wide opening next Thursday.

---

Take note

EGV Metropolis to stay closed – Downtown Bangkok is losing another cinema space. According to a posting on Pantip.com, Major Cineplex Group will not reopen the EGV Metropolis multiplex at the Big C Rajdamri, which was shuttered during the red-shirt protests.

Plans are to turn the cinema into office space.

The 10-screen multiplex opened in 2003 with two Gold Class theaters and a 740-seat Super Stadium Cinema, but it has struggled in recent years to draw audiences away from the competing SF World Cinema at CentralWorld across the street, as well as Major Cineplex's Paragon Cineplex.

SF World was damaged in the May 19 arson attacks that ensued in the government-ordered crackdown of the red-shirt protests. It will reopen around October or November.

Also lost in the arson attacks was the Apex chain's single-screen Siam Theatre in Siam Square. It looks like that space will become another shopping center.

The closing of the Metropolis is another loss to the EGV chain, which opened Thailand's first multiplex, EGV Seacon in 1994. EGV merged with Major Cineplex in 2004.

The six-screen Grand EGV Siam Discovery was shuttered earlier this year, with plans to convert the space into a Madame Tussaud's wax museum.

Ordinarily I wouldn't be too broken up by the loss of another shopping-mall multiplex. Arguably, there was a glut of screens in that particular neighborhood.

But as a movie-goer, I think it would be nice to see screens in that part of the city be turned into something special, perhaps devoted to repertory programming or cinematheque activities, rather than done away with entirely or converted into something not-so-special.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening July 1-7, 2010

Toy Story and Toy Story 2


Two of the most beloved animated films of all time, 1995's Toy Story and 1999's Toy Story 2 are re-released for the first time in 3D for a limited time ahead of Disney/Pixar's latest triumph, Toy Story 3, which arrives in Thailand on August 12. Intended to run as a double feature, in Thailand they are running separately, though some cinema chains have various deals on the double-feature package. They are showing in 3D at specially-equipped cinemas.

---

Also opening


Thai Short Film Marathon – Starting today, around 500 shorts will screen in the selection round for next month's 14th Thai Short Film & Video Festival. Limitless Cinema is already making a list of 10 must-see titles. Showtimes are 5 to 8.30 Tuesday through Friday and 11 to 8.30 on Saturday and Sunday, until August 1. There are no screenings on Mondays or from July 13 to 18. The screening space is the fourth-floor meeting room in the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.


The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – The third film in the Twilight franchise is said to be the darkest and most violent yet, with more action as vampires and werewolves join up to fight other vampires and hack each others' limbs off. But there's also kissing. Or, as star Kristen Stewart says, "Whatever." Critical reception is leaning toward the negative side. Not that it matters to the "Twi-hards".

I Hate Luv Storys – Karan Johar produces this romantic comedy starring Imran Khan as a guy who, well, he hates love stories, and Sonam Kapoor as a young woman who's in love with the idea of love itself. In Hindi with English subtitles at Major Cineplex Central Rama III on Friday and Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 4 and at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) on Sunday at 7.30. Call (089) 488 2620 or visit www.BollywoodThai.com.

---

Also showing


Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – This is a rare opportunity to see a movie by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the Thai filmmaker who has been critically acclaimed around the world for years for such films as Tropical Malady and Syndromes and a Century. It took him winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year for the Thai general public, industry executives and authorities to finally acknowledge his existence and give him his due. The Golden Palm winner Uncle Boonmee is the strange tale of a dying man, living out his last days in the countryside, surrounded by his loved ones, including the ghost of his late wife and the monkey spirit of his long-lost son. It's a trip. Tickets were reportedly sold out at last weekend's shows. It's supposed to play for a month, but I don't know for sure. See it while you can. Showtimes are nightly at 7.20 with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 at SFX the Emporium.