Post-tsunami drama curtain-raiser for Directors' Screen
KONG RITHDEE
Anchalee Saisunthorn in Wonderful Town, opening May 15. |
Life goes on, but love doesn't conquer all in Aditya Assarat's feature debut Wonderful Town, a non-studio Thai film that has become a muscular award-winning machine since its premiere in Pusan last October. After a long wait, the film will finally get an exclusive release in Bangkok at SF World Cinema, at CentralWorld, on May 15.
The release is engineered by a new outfit called Extra Virgin, a cultural management/film distributor/production company founded by Pimpaka Towira, Mai Meksawan and Ruangsaeng Sripaoraya. Extra Virgin has struck a deal with SF Cinema City to organise a project called "Directors' Screen", a series of theatrical releases of little-known and independent movies at SF CentralWorld, to promote non-mainstream cinema and to capture the still-at-large market of moviegoers who're looking for a break from Hollywood blockbusters.
Wonderful Town, a post-tsunami drama set in the sleepy town of Takua Pa, is the perfect curtain-raiser for Directors' Screen. The film had its World Premiere at the Pusan International Film Festival last year, where it won the fest's top award. Then it went on to snatch prizes at key cinefests like Rotterdam and Deauville, and recently it was released theatrically in Paris.
In Bangkok, the film will be shown for four weeks at the SF theatre, with one screening every day at 7:30pm. The director, Aditya, will meet the audience after the screenings on weekends.
After Wonderful Town, Extra Virgin will release The Truth Be Told, a political documentary by Pimpaka Towira, on May 29. The movie is a time-capsule that records Thailand's political travails from 2004 to 2006 through the lawsuits filed against media activist Supinya Klangnarong, who was sued by Shin Corp for 400 million baht. Supinya was later acquitted, as shown in the movie, but then the situation got even more sticky with the mass protests against former PM Thaksin Shinawatra in 2005 and then the Sept 19 coup.
"We believe that one obstacle for independent filmmakers in Thailand is the lack of proper channels to screen their movies, and that spoils the opportunity to connect with the audience," says Pimpaka of Extra Virgin.
"With Directors' Screen, we hope to open up the market. The fact that the theatre has allowed us to choose the movies to put into the programme is very important, because some of the most interesting Thai films are now being produced outside of the studios, by young people who have the passion for telling stories."
As of now, Extra Virgin will focus on releasing Thai titles, though there's a possibility that it will expand to international films in the future.
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