Director’s Screen Project Continues with Mundane History, Agrarian Utopia and Phuket
25/06/10
(By: Thai Film Foundation)
Extra Virgin in cooperation with SF Cinema and the independent film community continue this year with the Director’s Screen project, a specialty theatrical distribution initiative for independent arthouse cinema. Striving to introduce more distinctive, thought-provoking titles from Thailand as well as around the world to the local audience, the project reflects the widespread recognition in contemporary Thai cinema in an international arena as evident in the Palme d’Or success of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, also to be released in Thailand this week.
The Director’s Screen project first took off in May 2008 with the releases of 2 Thai films: Aditya Assarat’s 5 Thai national film awards (the Subannahongsa) winner Wonderful Town, and Pimpaka Towira’s The Truth Be Told: The Cases Against Supinya Klangnarong. Following the positive feedback, the second phrase of the project is set to go ahead this year with the release of 3 internationally-acclaimed titles from Thailand.
The 2010 project will launch with Anocha Suwichakornpong’s debut feature Mundane History, winner of 2 best feature film awards at the 2010 International Film Festival Rotterdam (VPRO Tiger Award) and the Transylvania International Film Festival (Transylvania Trophy), as well as heavy international film festivals presence. The film will be released in Bangkok on 5 August 2010 at SFX Cinema, The Emporium.
Next will be Agrarian Utopia by Uruphong Raksasad, a semi-documentary fiction feature exploring the year-long rice farming cycle in northern Thailand amidst the backdrop of the country’s economic, social and political changes. A fixture on the international film festivals circuit, the film is the recipient of UNESCO Special Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Promotion and Preservation of Cultural Diversity, among many others. The release date is set for 2 September 2010.
Wrapping up the 2010 line-up is the short film Phuket by Aditya Assarat, recent laureate of the Ministry of Culture’s Silpathorn Award. Shot entirely in the namesake resort town, the film stars young Korean heartthrob actress Lim Soo-Jung (I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK and Sorry, I Love You) and legendary Thai actor Sorapong Chatree, and will be screened alongside 2 other shorts by the same director: Boy Genius and The Sigh. The release date will be at 30 September 2010.
All the films in the Director’s Screen project will be theatrically released in an exclusive 4-week run at SF Cinema, with 1 screening everyday at 7PM and additional slots on weekends at 2PM. Tickets are available to purchase at the cinema’s box office. Throughout the release period, there will be special activities hosted every Saturday after the evening screening where the films’ directors will attend to meet and do a Q&A session with the audience.
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 phrases of the project in the coming year.
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