Stuck with a troublesome film, Yuthlert builds his own cinema

Yuthlert Sippapak’s film about the problems in the deep South has been sitting on a shelf for two years because of fears that it would incite unrest. The producers decided they didn’t even want their names in the credits. But movie buffs have been begging, so Yuthlert has finally found a way to get some eyeballs on it.
The director tells Internet TV show “Jor Khao Tuen” that the movie’s time has come and he’s screening it in such as way as to minimise risk and soothe the producers’ fevered brow. “Pittupum” will premiere in a 100-seat theatre called Phet Chiang Khan that’s opening next year alongside the Mekong River in Loei.
Evidently the spot is a booming tourist destination these days. And it’s a hell of a long way from Bangkok, not to mention the southern border provinces, thus promising a measure of safety.
Yuthlert himself will be running the theatre, so guess what’s going to be on the bill every day – at least for a while. “The kind of people who come to see ‘Pittupum’ will be very selective,” he believes.
As well as the likely safety afforded by Loei, it’s also his home province. He was recently offered a 13-rai property there, and that’s where the cinema is being built. “The owner offered to sell it to me for Bt40 million. Perhaps I look like a millionaire,” Yuthlert laughs. He ended up leasing the land for 13 years.
The movie is based on “Promdaen”, a novel written by Police General Wasit Dejkunchorn. It’s about two police officers and a beautiful graduate sociologist from overseas. The film stars Ananda Everingham, TV drama heartthrob Sukollawut “Weir” Kanaros and Davika Hoorne. This is in fact Davika’s first movie, not the blockbuster “Pee Mak”.
The financing for “Pittupum”, which was actually shot in the South, came from men in uniform, but the director won’t say who they are. They wanted him to make a “patriotic” film.
Not to screen the film would certainly be a shame. It cost Bt100 million and had the backing support from the military, including access to Army bases and use of military aircraft. “I felt like a kid on Children’s Day,” Yuthlert chuckles, crawling all over the tanks and planes.
He ended up with some very adult, very heartfelt memories, though. “This movie is really special in my directing career because it was the first time I made a film under such circumstances, where I had to take care of a lot of people, in terms of the safety of my production crew as well treating the story with great sensitivity.”