Thailand Voice

With the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival going on, festival director Chi-hui Yang is interviewed by New America Media. They ask him: What’s next for Asian film? They also get his answer on what happened to Asian films at the Oscars , but more importantly, what’s he … Read full story >>>

This weekend the only topic in Thailand is the big rally of the red shirts protesting against the government, so I can’t resist and post something vaguely related to the political troubles in Thailand of the last 4 years. Last week the website 2bangkok.com… Read full story >>>

The SET was up 0.7% on news that pro-democracy supporters were about to set forth on the campaign to bring down the tyrannical , unelected, military-supported and deeply-hated Abhisit regime – OK, let’s not have any more stupid stories (yes… Read full story >>>

Jakrawal Nilthamrong’s latest feature Unreal Forest will screen in Milan at the 20th African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival . Via production company Extra Virgin , there’s a trailer for Unreal Forest at YouTube and it’s embedded below. It’s part of the Forget … Read full story >>>

Poj Arnon is the latest Thai filmmaker to be caught up in the trend of Korean pop culture. He started shooting a movie last week in Gangwon Province, South Korea. Sorry Sarahaeyo ( Sorry Sa Rang He Yo ) is a Thai-South… Read full story >>>

Since the end of January, Film Virus has been showing films by the likes of Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal in the Pinoy Classics series at Thammasart University. The series closes this Sunday with Lav Diaz: The Early Years and a chance to see two of the conventional-length features by the boundary-… Read full story >>>

Hong Kong actor Shawn Yue will play a businessman working for a drug company in My Best Bodyguard , an action thriller that stars Princess Ubolratana, production company Oriental Eyes announced recently . Yue has previously starred in such films as the Infernal Affairs trilogy, Initial D , Dragon Tiger Gate and… Read full story >>>

Two edgy Thai films — Thunska Pansittivorakul’s censor-baiting experimental romantic thriller Reincarnate and Kongkiat Komesiri’s gritty crime thriller Slice ( Cheun ) — are in consideration for the NETPAC Award at this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam . The award is given by a panel of Asian filmmakers and film experts from the Network for the… Read full story >>>

I got together with Passakorn (Hong) and Wise Kwai again this week for another episode of Changkhui in English. Last time we talked about Wise Kwai’s top 10 Thai films of the decade. This time we looked at the year 2009 in film. You can read Wise Kwai’s original top 10 of 2009 post on … Read full story >>>

The Phuket Film Festival 2010 is set for June 4 to 13 on the Andaman Sea resort island, and there’s a call for entries of features, shorts or documentaries completed 2008 or later. The entry form is available on the festival website, www.PhuketFilmFestival.asia . First held in 2007 , this year will be the second edition of the Phuket … Read full story >>>

Ong-Bak 2 opened in Japan on January 9, where Jason Gray reports it is called Mach (Mahha) 2 (Ni) ( マッハ！弐 ) and has a wild poster that makes it look as if Tony Jaa is leaping over an Egyptian pyramid. In Japan, … Read full story >>>

Recovered from his traumatic experience reviewing the ouevre of Sompote Sands , Todd at Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill once again braves the grave dangers of old-time Thai cinema with a look at Insee Daeng: Insee Payong ( อินทรีแดง ตอน อินทรีผยอง ). With… Read full story >>>

I recently received an email from Thai ex pat forum site Thaivisa which led me to the holiday island of Phuket. Ivan Anwar, 51, a Canadian who teaches English in Tokyo was on the island with his wife as part of one of their regular holidays to Thailand. Dissatisfied with their hotel… Read full story >>>

Aditya Assarat’s Phuket is in the international competition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. The Thai-South Korean tourism co-production stars Soo Jung Lim as a South Korean actress on vacation on Thailand’s resort island of Phuket. … Read full story >>>

In reaction to a lack of Asian films on one most-pirated list , Wildgrounds has compiled a ranking of the eight most-pirated Asian films of 2009 . At No. 2 is Tony Jaa’s Ong-Bak 2 with 41,793 downloads. It’s between John Woo’s Red Cliff at… Read full story >>>

Some of HM the King’s speeches are open to interpretation, but the below excerpt from a DPA article from HM the King’s 80 birthday speech in 2007 is fairly clear: On a serious note, King Bhumibol used his birthday eve speech to admonish the navy Read full story >>>

One of Thailand’s best films this year, the horror anthology Phobia 2 is out on DVD. The Thai version has all kinds of extras including an attractive steelbook edition that has cast and crew commentary, outtakes and extended and deleted scenes. But of course there are no English … Read full story >>>

German director Detlev Buck’s romantic drama Same Same But Different premiered in Cambodia last weekend. It was screened at the Cinelux in Phnom Penh, ” a splendid Art Deco building from the 1930s “. The Southeast Asian Film Studies Institute has a photo of the movie’s banner, draping … Read full story >>>

The end of 2009 not only means there will be an onslaught of year-end lists to pore over, but also lists of the best films of the first decade of the 21st century. We’ve already had the best of the decade list from the TIFF Cinematheque , that … Read full story >>>

The end of 2009 not only means there will be an onslaught of year-end lists to pore over, but also lists of the best films of the first decade of the 21st century. We’ve already had the best of the decade list from the TIFF Cinematheque , that was topped by Syndromes and a Century … Read full story >>>

Fireball , Thanakorn Pongsuwan’s bloody and violent blend of Muay Thai and no-holds-barred basketball, hits Region 2 DVD and Blu-ray on January 18. Check it at Amazon or Play.com . Details about specs or extras are thin on the ground, but… Read full story >>>

Uruphong Raksasad’s experimental documentary Agrarian Utopia ( Sawan Baan Na ) continues its award-winning run, picking up the Unesco Award at the third edition of the Asia-Pacific Screen Awards, which were given out on Thursday in Gold Coast, Australia. … Read full story >>>

Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Syndromes and a Century has been named the best film of the decade in a critics poll by the Toronto International Film Festival Cinematheque . The movie that was censored in Thailand continues to be hailed by critics worldwide. In fact, three of Apichatpong’s … Read full story >>>

Director Tsai Ming-liang is the recipient of this year’s Lotus Award for cinematic achievement from the World Film Festival of Bangkok. He was handed the award by Culture Minister Teera Slukpetch in the opening-night ceremony on Friday. Tsai made his remarks, which were translated by festival director Victor Silakong. … Read full story >>>

Thomas Fuller in the New York Times has an interesting article on why the ethnic Wa in Burma use Thailand as a route to smuggle heroin and other drugs to Hong Kong and elsewhere instead of China. Now, of course we … Read full story >>>

The basics of this story are that Cambodian leader Hun Sen appointed former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic advisor and Thaksin accepted. Current Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government then recalled the Thai Ambassador from Cambodia and the Cambodians responded by recalling their Ambassador NOTE: The other day BP criticized the … Read full story >>>

Films from Burma, Cambodia, East Timor and Laos — countries not often or ever heard from when it comes to the region’s cinema — will be featured alongside dramas and documentaries from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in ” My Dear … Read full story >>>

Directed by Thanapon Maliwan Starring Pairote “Mike B.” Boongerd, Inthira Charoenpura, Russell Wong, Patharawarin Timkul Released in Thai cinemas on October 8, 2009 Wise Kwai’s rating: 3/5 Skilled martial arts are stylized with moody slow-motion in The Sanctuary , an archaeological action drama starring stuntman-turned-leading man Pairote “Mike B” Boongerd and Hong… Read full story >>>

You don’t often see Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva in such a jovial mood. But then, that’s because he sneaked into a friend’s house yesterday for a quick lunch. Patee Sarasin, Nok Air’s chief executive, didn’t say what prompted the PM to… Read full story >>>

The Bangkok Post has an interesting report on the ghost town newish capital of Burma: Thousands of civil servants had to move from Rangoon to Naypyidaw when General Than Shwe announced the transfer of the capital in 2005. Almost four years later, this soulless city still lacks … Read full story >>>