It's that time of the year for Thailand's longest-running cine-event. The 19th Thai Short Film and Video Festival returns this weekend with its annual harvest of films, short and long, fiction and documentary, student-made and professional, Thai and foreign, and altogether a rich showcase of independent spirit that can't be found in commercial film. The venue is at the 4th and 5th floor of Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. Free admission, of course.
As usual, the main programme consists of the competitive sections -- this year over 600 films have been submitted, and around 50 have been picked for the finals (though all entries were shown in a pre-event last month). Every year, the festival is the largest gathering of film students in the country with two main competitions -- Special White Elephant for high-school level and White Elephant for university students -- and every year we witness the tide of energy and enthusiasm from young filmmakers that make this event stand out from the rest.
Beyond the university level, the Ratana Pestonji competition is an open field for all filmmakers. Because they make films with minimum concern for the commercial possibility (though that would be nice too) the films in this section often deal with subjects that we won't see in mainstream cinema -- something crazy, something deeply personal, or something political. There's also a documentary section, which is strong this year, with films dealing with everything from the Rohingya issues to the eviction of the inhabitants from an ancient Bangkok neighbourhood.
For several years, the Thai Short Film and Video Festival has set aside a Queer Programme to promote gender diversity. And though it's officially a "short film" event, the festival also screens long films in a special programme, again to give a platform for young filmmakers whose work may not have a chance to get a commercial release.
This is also an international film festival, with some of the highlights include: S-Express, a showcase of short films from Asean countries; Best of Clermont-Ferrand, a selection of top films from the world's biggest short film festival in France; and a programme of international competition. This year, the festival has a special section called "Out of Place", which features film from several countries on the subject of outsiders living on the fringe of society.
Here's some guideline for your trip to the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre this weekend.
Today at 5pm is the first programme of the Documentary Competition (which I strongly recommend). AT 7pm there's the first programme of the International Competition, with films submitted from France, Serbia, Switzerland and Iran.
Tomorrow the screening begins at 11am with Documentary Competition, followed by Student Competition at 1pm (definitely worth checking out). The prime-time slot at 7pm on Saturday goes to the first programme of Students Competition.
On Sunday, check out the Best of Clermont Ferrand at 11 -- this is a selection of top international films from the French festival that has a long relationship with our Thai one, and the quality of the films shown in this programme often surpasses even feature-length commercial films. Later in the day, more competition programmes, including one by high-school students.
The 19th Thai Short Film and Video Festival runs until Aug 23 at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. Free admission. For schedule go to https://www.facebook.com/ThaiShortFilmVideoFestival
A Singaporean short Dahdi.
