THAI FILM FESTIVAL IN MUMBAI & FILM INCENTIVES IN THAILAND

by Ronita Torcato 

 

The Royal Thai Consulate- General in Mumbai and the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Tourism  has organised a three day Film Festival  at the Y.B. Chavan Center Nariman Point next week. Admission to the filmfest is on a first come first served basis and free of charge.

Thail Consul-General Mr. Ekapol Poolpipat will formally inaugurate the festival  on Friday, September 23rd 7 pm  with the historical epic actioner “The Dawn of the Kingdom”.Post intermission, there will be a screening of the horror thriller “Ladda Land”. 

Thailand is an extremely popular location with Western and Indian film-makers who will be pleased by Mr Poolpipat's glad tidings: from next year Thailand will offer a 18 % shooting incentive to foreign filmmakers. Applications can be sent to the Thailand Film Office c/o Ministry of Tourism and Sports,Rama 1 Road,Bangkok.Email: thaifilmboard@hotmail.com or their Mumbai based Director for South Asia,Soraya Homchuen. Email: tatmumbai@tat.or.th

 

In Mumbai, two films will be screened daily ( 7 pm and 8.30 pm) at the Festival which is showcasing six  films from various genres, Mr Poolpipat said. Festival curator and Thai Consul Mr Jirajett Wongnorraset informed that five films are in Thai language with English subtitles, whereas one film is in English with Thai subtititles. The inaugural film "The Dawn of the Kingdom"  directed by Thanawut Ketsaro is set in the Ayutthaya period and tells the story of Siamese freedom fighters warring with the Burmese. Justice,love and revenge play a n important role in this journey of two homeless musician brothers who take on the might of an evil overlord.

"Ladda Land" revolves around the paranormal> The central character Thee is a struggling 40-year-old marketing officer who  moves from Bangkok to the titular upmarket housing estate in Chiang Mai, with his wife, Parn, rebellious teenage daughter, Nan, and lively young son, Nat, firm in the belief that relocation is the answer to  his mortgage problems. Laddaland appears to be a relatively ordinary neighborhood, but Thee and his family realize that something is wrong given the growing discord among the families who are affected by violence and murder.The film premiered at  the 17th Busan International Filmfest and won six awards in Thailand.

 

Saturday, Sept 24 will feature  “Boxing In Love” a rom com actioner about a young man and woman with different passions and paths.He is a Thai boxer while she is passionate about classical dance. Despite the differences, the two fall deeply in love. "Phobia 2" comprises five shorts directed by five of the best directors of Thai horror films. In the segment titled Novice, a teenager who committed a crime hides in  a sacred place for meditation  that results in fear  and guilt about his crime. In Ward, a  young man is  haunted in an hospital by a comatose old man. Two men in a truck along with two hitchhikers get into  big trouble in the segment titled Backpackers. A secondhand car dealer realizes what the original car owners/passengers had  been upto in the segment titled  Salvage. In the End is about a hardworking actress who plays the role of a ghost and is reported dead after she is  hospitalised.

 

Sunday Sept 25th  will feature the sole English language film,“The Fighting Fish 2012” and a dramedy about Thai cooking called “Senses of Siam”.“The Fighting Fish  tells the story of a French boxing champion called Mike, who lands in Bangkok and soon is soon robbed blind by a gang of tuk-tuk ruffians. Mike teams up with Yo, a poor Thai boxer and his beautiful wife Katoon to participate in an underground gladiatorial tournament with vengeance in mind.Senses of Siam unravels the secrets of Thai cuisine while depictine the clash of ideas between the old and new generations on how to preserve the authenticity of Thai food. Enjoy!