The 6th World Film Festival of Bangkok (WWF) 

World Film Festival of Bangkok
1854 12 Fl Nation Tower Bangna-Trad Rd.,
Bangna,
Bangkok 10260,
Thailand

Tel: 66 2 338-3618-9 Fax: 66 2 338 3976
www.worldfilmbkk.com
Email

Click here for schedule

We Salute Cinema Masters and Young Talent!

Experience one of the great events of the year. 

The objective of the World Film Festival of Bangkok is to introduce quality, non-mainstream films from all over the world. It aims to become a showcase for independent films and new work from rising talents to cinema masters to show the continuity from generation to generation as a vital component in the development of the film industry.  

More than 80 international films are screened at the festival each year, featuring works from the European Union Film Festival, Latin America, Asia and Southeast Asia and included short films, documentaries and animation productions - which are considered a new focus of the industry. There are several awards given to films shown at the festival and selected Thai short films. The poster design competition is open to both for university students and the general public.  

Apart from film screenings, there are film-related talks such as Master Class Workshop and other special events. The festival, in co-operation with the Festival of Three Continents and Produire Au Sud from France, also runs a workshop to guide film producers seeking funds for their new projects. At the end of the workshop, the most interesting film projects in Southeast Asia will be selected to receive funds and the makers will be invited to the final selection in France.  

With over six years experience, the World Film Festival of Bangkok has now become a significant film festival in Southeast Asia attracting more than 20,000 people to the screenings every year and is also attended by directors, film stars, people in film industry and the media from all over the world.  

The organizers will continue to carry forward the spirit and intent of the festival's establishment. - that is to make the World film Festival of Bangkok a centre of international films in Bangkok, already famous as one of the world’s capital city's of culture and entertainment.
 

When I was young film-lover watching movies rarely seen in ordinary theatres - at academic institutes, foreign institutes and embassies - I always dreamed of one day organizing a film festival because I truly believed that Thailand, and especially Bangkok, had the potential to become a world capital of culture and that a film festival could be just the tool to help make that dream come true. It could fulfil our eagerness to learn about cultures in the wider world.    

From the first day I became director of the World Film Festival of Bangkok, I intended to create a festival that would be a cultural learning community where the audience could learn from well-made, alternative films from every region. Over the past six years, I and my ''small team with big dreams'' have put our hearts and souls into making this festival a showcase for quality, out of the ordinary films. We are proud to be a stage for new wave and veteran directors - and for everyone involved in the film industry.        

It gratifies me to think that the World Film Festival of Bangkok has become an event to nurture the cultural seeds of Thailand. I hope these young seeds will grow into strong trees and spread their beautiful branches into the world of film lovers and make it more vigorous and colourful. Today, the World Film Festival of Bangkok is recognised as one of the most important international film festivals in Asia.  

I would also like to thank everyone who has kindly supported the festival, especially the embassies, government and private sectors, and last but not least, to all the people who come to watch and enjoy the films year after year.   

Welcome to the 6th World Film Festival of Bangkok. 

Best regards,

Kriengsak Victor Silakong

Director of World Film Festival of Bangkok

A fantastic selection of exciting, original and artistic films from all over the world will be presented at the 6th World Film Festival of Bangkok from October 24 to November 2, 2008. They include classics from veteran directors and work by upcoming youngbloods who bring fresh ideas to the screen. More than 70 films will cover different societies, cultures, history and politics. They will also present the personal visions and ideas of directors through the language of cinema.

The films are categorised into eight sections: 

Asian Contemporary:

Social issues and how life changes with different eras are the focus of this year's contemporary Asian films, which include ‘Chants of Lotus’ by four female directors from Indonesia depicting the rapid social changes effecting both the older and younger generations caught between the traditional and modern worlds. The Thai film ‘Moment in June’ looks at a group of individuals from various angles; a Malaysian film ‘Sell Out’ scoffs at consumerism via a TV Reality Show, and ‘Tulpan’ from Kazakhstan, which won the ‘Un Certain Regard’ award at the Cannes Film Festival 2008, tells the story of a young man's attempts to marry a beautiful girl from his village, and also reveals how the urban lifestyle is intruding on traditional rural ways.

World Cinema:

Films from Europe, North America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East include ‘Eat, For This Is My Body’ the surrealist film from Haiti, that tackles the country’s political challenges and the deprivation caused by colonialism; ‘Three Monkeys’ the latest work by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan; ‘New Age’, the first feature by Israel female artist Keren Cytter; a beautiful German drama ‘Cherry Blossoms-Hanami’ and two animations from America and Israel ‘Sita Sings the Blues’, which is derived from the Indian epic Ramayana and ‘Waltz with Bashir’ that strongly criticises the Iraq war and won high praise at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Latin America:

The character of films from Latin America emerges from its specific identity “hot and spicy but great food for thought”. This year the World Film Festival proudly presents films by new wave directors including ‘The Headless Woman’ and ‘La Rabia’ from Argentina, ‘The Path’ from Costa Rica, ‘The Sky, The Earth and The Rain’ from Chile and ‘The Watercolourist’ from Peru.

One of the great Brazilian directors Hector Babenco has been selected for praise with his three most famous films: ‘Pixote, the Law of the Weakest’, ‘Kiss of The Spider Woman’ and his latest work from 2007 ‘The Past’ with Gael Garcia Bernal in the leading role.

Lotus Award: Shyam Benegal
The "Lotus Award" is presented to outstanding individuals in the film industry who are an inspiration to others in developing their own talent. This year the prolific Indian director and screenwriter Shyam Benegal has been selected to receive the award. His five masterpieces to be screened during the 6th WFF are 'Manthan', 'Bhumika', 'Mandi', 'Samar' and 'Zubeidaa'.

Retrospective: Derek Jarman

The late Derek Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, artist and writer. His distinctive approach to film making that broke almost all traditional styles influenced many new wave directors. Fourteen years after his death, the World Film Festival of Bangkok presents his three masterpieces: ‘Caravaggio’, ‘Jubilee’, and ‘The Angelic Conversation’ to commemorate one of the great film directors of the world. Also screened will be the documentary 'Derek' written and produced in 2007 by Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton, long-time co-worker of Jarman and directed by Isaac Julien.

Documentary:

The “must see” documentaries being shown at the 6th World Film Festival of Bangkok include ‘Shine a Light’ directed by Martin Scorsese on ‘The Rolling Stones’; ‘Return to Goree’, a Senegal-Switzerland-Luxembourg documentary tracing the life of the world famous Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour; ‘Lady Kul El Arab’ from Israel follows the dream of an Arab girl who wants to enter a beauty queen competition in Israel and creates conflict in her village; ‘Jerusalem: The East Side Story’ that focuses on the conflict between Israel and Palestine; ‘A Jihad for Love’ about the fight for rights of the third gender in the Arab world; ‘Her Name is Sabine’ about an autistic girl directed by well-known actress Sandrine Bonnair, and ‘Listener's Tale’ an experimental documentary from India.

Short Films:

Short films have marked a significant milestone for many successful film directors. Twenty short films have been selected and categorised into two groups to be presented at the 6th World Film Festival of Bangkok: ‘All Human Beings Are Born Free and Equal’, focusing on short films from Germany, and ‘The Shorts’ a selection of films from the Disability Film Festival 2008 in Bangkok. 

New Media:

In this new era where multimedia plays such an important role, the 6th World Film Festival of Bangkok with support from the British Council presents ‘Graphic Cities’ a contemporary collection of mix media on screen. In addition, the World Film Festival will for the first time present movie trailers for the public to preview on http://www.youtube.com/wffbkk 

Sections:                         

                - Asian Contemporary                               (8)                     

                - Latin America Focus                                (5)                     

                - World Cinema                                        (12)                     

                - Short Films                                            (14)                      

                - Documentary                                         (13) 

                - Lotus Award to Shyam Benegal                (5)                      

                - Retrospective to Derek Jarman                (4)                   

                - Tribute to Hector Babenco                      (3)            

Opening Film:                       A Moment in June (Thailand)         

Closing Film:                         Shine a Light (USA)     

Opening and Closing Films

‘A Moment in June’, the brainchild of 1st Produire au Sud Bangkok, and ‘Shine a Light’, Martin Scorsese's documentary on the Rolling Stones will be the opening and closing films at the 6th World Film Festival of Bangkok (WWF) 

More than 60 movies from around the world will be screened during the WFF from October 24 to November 1, 2008 at the Paragon Cineplex. 

‘A Moment in June', the first feature from new-wave Thai director Nattapong ‘O’ Wongtrinetrakul, will make its South East Asian premiere on October 24. Actors and actresses appearing in the film include Chakrit Yaemnam, Krissada Sukosol Clapp (Noi Wong Pru), Duentem Salitul, Sinitra Boonyasak and Suchao Pongwilai.  

 The film focuses on a group of individuals in modern Thai society from various angles. It is also shown at 13th Pusan (Busan) International Film Festival in Korea from October 2 to October 10, 2008.   

Nattapong built his reputation on “Bicycles and Radios” one of nine short films featured in the last round of the 2004 Annual Student Academy Awards (Student Oscars). 

‘A Moment in June’ is a production from the ‘1st Produire au Sud Bangkok’, the biennial workshop for new producers and directors in South East Asia and Sri Lanka, held by Produire au Sud Foundation of Festival of 3 Continents, the French Embassy in Thailand and the WWF since 2004. 

This year, the 3rd Produire au Sud workshop will be held from October 29 to November 1 at the Nokia Ultra Screen Theatre in Paragon Cineplex. Twelve producers and directors will be presenting and discussing their projects.   

Besides the workshop, the WFF is holding a ‘Poster Exhibition’ and will display 20 outstanding posters from the WFF 2008 Poster Competition at Infinity Hall, Paragon Cineplex (5th floor), plus the ‘Celebrity Look Alike’  competition for people who believe they closely resemble famous stars, and ‘the Short Films Competition’, in which the ten best short films will be shown. 

Awards for the outstanding posters and short films will be presented on November 1 during the closing ceremony at Paragon Park, Siam Paragon, where ‘Shine a Light’ will be screened outdoors with a full sound system. 

The 6th World Film Festival of Bangkok 2008 is organised by Tourist Authority of Thailand, The Nation newspaper, Xpress newspaper, Nation Channel, Major Cineplex Group Plc., and Paragon Cineplex. It is supported by foreign embassies in Thailand, the Alliance Francaise, the Goethe Institut Bangkok, and the British Council. Other media supporting the festival include Bioscope Magazine, Happening Magazine and True Visions.   

The 6th World Film Festival of Bangkok 2008 will be held at Paragon Cineplex from October 24 to November 2, 2008. Tickets are Bt100 and Bt50 for students. For more information please check out www.worldfilmbkk.com

Special events

1.   Opening Night

24 October 2008

Siam Pawalai, Paragon Cineplex

2.   Closing Night

1 November 2008

Parc Paragon, Siam Paragon

3.   6^th World Film Festival of Bangkok Posters Exhibition

     24 October-2 November 2008

     Infinite Hall, 5th Floor, Paragon Cineplex

4.   The 3rd Produire au Sud Film Workshop Bangkok

      29 October-1 November 2008

      Nokia Ultra Screen 1 Cinema, Paragon Cineplex

5. Celebrity Look Alike

1 November 2008

Parc Paragon, Siam Paragon

6.  Daily Discussions with Filmmakers (Please see schedule)

Created in Nantes (France) in 2000 by the Festival of 3 Continents, “Produire au Sud” is a workshop aimed at Asian, African and South American producers.

In fact, if the state of worldwide film production covers heteogeneous realities, the problems that must be overcome for the development of a full-length film are often similar.

The main goal of “Produire au Sud” is thus to help and support the producers of these specific geographical areas with the learning and fulfilment of their job.

It is undoubtedly in the viewpoint of exchanging tips, skills and ideas that the “Produire au Sud” workshops are taking place each year in Nantes during the Festival of 3 Continents but also abroad in the framework of several partnerships with some international film festivals.

It is thus with great pleasure that, for the third time, we are organising a workshop in Bangkok - an event that will be held in total partnership with the World Film Festival of Bangkok and the French Embassy in Bangkok.

Indeed, from October 29 to November 1, 2008, the “Produire au Sud” workshop will host six projects of full-length films currently in development – all these films being represented by their producers and directors.

For four days they will be surrounded by important figures of the European and Asian film industry in order to discuss the legal, financial and technical aspects at stake as far as coproduction is concerned. These talks will be completed by individual meetings.

If international film coproduction displays a real curiosity and desire for openness, it is however most of the time far from being a bed of roses. So, good luck to all partic

Seminar Venue:

October 29- November 1, 2008

Nokia Ultra Screen 1 Cinema, Paragon Cineplex, Siam Paragon

Speakers:

Elise Jalladeau: Producer

Miguel Machalski: Script Writer

Emilie Georges: Sales Agent

Selected Projects:

Stratosphere (Thailand)

Producer: Hassaya Rimphanawat

Director: Patavee Viranuvat

I Carrie You Home (Thailand) 

Producer: Thacksakorn Pradubpongsa

Director: Tongpong Chantarangkul

The Tour (Malaysia)

Producer: Joanna Lee

Director: Chris Chong

Shadows of Noon (The Philippines) 

Producer: Elisse Aquino

Director: Ivy Universe Baldosa

Balaan (The Philippines) 

Producer: Oscar Nava

Director: Ray Gibraltar

Remembrace (The Philippines)

Producer: Eloisa Espino-Sanchez

Director: Seymour Sanchez