Bangkok Film Festival

Bangkok Film Festival
Planning your summer holidays? I hearby invite you all to the Bangkok International Film Festival, to be held in July this year. The programme's not out yet, but it's usually a pretty good line up and they always have a few decent directors and actors attending. The cinemas are world class and here's the great thing: the tickets are dead cheap, 80-120 baht (about UKP 1.10 - 1.70 each).

I can't put you up (you'd be shocked to see the roach-infested hovel I live in anyway) but you can get rooms for as little as five quid a night on Khao San Road (as featured in The Beach).

Make a holiday of it and enjoy all the delights of Bangkok to boot, where everything is cheap. Wander round the beautiful temples, smile at the beautiful girls (they will smile back), gawp at the pirate DVD stands (best in Asia, if you're that way inclined)... you can't go wrong.

Look forward to seeing you. God knows it would be good to talk movies after the show over a Singha beer.

Sounds awesome!

I wish I could go...

I spent a day in Bangkok a few years ago (World Scout Jamboree, which disapointingly only included one daytrip to Bangkok)

Always meant to go back

I spent a day in Bangkok a few years ago (World Scout Jamboree, which disapointingly only included one daytrip to Bangkok)

Always meant to go back

I've noticed scouting is quite big over here. Always having jamborees.

July is admittedly not the best time to come weatherwise (rainy season).

July is admittedly not the best time to come weatherwise (rainy season).

For me that would make it the best time - cheaper ticket prices and weather just like home!

I'm thinking of going and, looking at the website, i wonder if i can pass myself off as some sort of industry type?

Maybe i could buy a film to distribute in the UK from my house?

http://www.bangkokfilm.org/

I see they've just posted the programme - or at least part of it... I sincerely hope there'll be more than these 60 films... Last time it was more like 150 and quite a glitzy affair, but unfortunately, this year the budget has been slashed and the whole thing put back six months because of the political situation. A bit of a bummer.

It's being held in the second best cinemaplex instead of the stonkingly great new one like last time - no problem with that, but having less money probably means they'll be hiring less screens too.

Still, it all depends on what they're showing. Have you spotted any goodies on the programme?

I missed London To Brighton when it screened locally, so i might see that if i go.

Nothing else lept out to me on first viewing but i'll look up some of the other films to see if they're worth a look.

The Kaorismaki and the Iosseliani must be worth seeing. Not too many other standouts though... lots of Asian directors I've never heard of... I suppose it will have to be a voyage of discovery...

The Kaorismaki and the Iosseliani must be worth seeing. Not too many other standouts though... lots of Asian directors I've never heard of... I suppose it will have to be a voyage of discovery...

The program looks like Christmas: all those presents and you can't guess what's inside the packages ... if I were there, I think I'd rush to watch most of the Asian stuff because I'm quite sure it would be difficult to impossible to find it over here; so I'd skip Kaurismäki and Iosseliani, as well as Nair and Staka as they'll probably be easily available here later. So choice largely depends on where you come from ... (but even the French and Italian films very probably will never see the light of a German cinema, so ... uhm, it's difficult. Toss a coin!)

I have to admit, it's always the obscure ones that leave the biggest impression at film festivals.

Asian films are hit and miss for me... it either seems to be yakuza, teen angst stuff, or Wong Kar Wai rip-offs. The Mongolians always make nice films though.

By the way, I'm adding "Kaurismäki" to my spelling book.
...You're not a schoolteacher by any chance...?

By the way, I'm adding "Kaurismäki" to my spelling book.
...You're not a schoolteacher by any chance...?

Hehe, no, I'm not :D Would you expect me to misspell him for your sake when I'm used to knowing his name and spelling it correctly? For a German that's not a difficult name at all. Also he's among my favorite directors and I've written about him more than once, so there! :P

But talking of Mongolian films, I know only one, so could you recommend some more?

:roll: as well as the one i've seen, there's The Cave Of The Yellow Dog from the same filmmakers.

The first that comes to mind is Season of the Horse, directed by Cai Ning. (Hmmm... no reviews on IMDb... must write one...) A simple and moving tale - as it would have to be in that landscape.
I'll try to recall some others...

Just looked it up, the plot summary sounds sad enough. And only 2 people in the cast?

Yes, do, write a review. That would save me the time hunting the internet for more info :)

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