Oscar-nominated 'The Rocket' opens 11th World Film Festival
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Award-winning director Kim Mordaunt's Oscar-nominated "Bang Fai" ("The Rocket") was the first film to be showcased as the 11th World Film Festival of Bangkok was officially launched last night at SF CentralWorld.
The Australian-Lao-Isaan film is a heart-warming tale of a boy who goes on a journey to find his family a new home after they are evicted to make way for a dam. Starring young Sitthiphon Disamoe, the film also includes veteran Thai comedian Thep Po-ngam as a James Brown-obsessed “uncle”.
“Bang Fai”, which is banned in Laos, has already won the Crystal Bear and two other awards at this year’s Berlin film festival and is Australia’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the next Academy Awards.
In a chat with festival director Kriengsak “Victor” Silakong, Mordaunt said: “It is important for ‘The Rocket’ to premiere in Thailand since the cast and crew are mostly Thai.”
He went on to say that he had a great time working with “the best film crew ever” despite some cultural differences. “But then, it is expected when you have multicultural people in a film set,” he said.
The Bangkok fest, which was opened by Culture Minister Sonthaya Kunplome, also pays tribute to 1980s superstar Jarunee Suksawat, who will be honoured with the “Lotus Award” to mark her achievements.
In an era when about 120 films were made in Thailand every year, Jarunee appeared in at least 100 of them, Victor said.
The fest wraps on November 24 with the documentary “Mae Nam Tid Shua” (“By the River”). The film, created by Nontawat Numbenchapol, documents the problems villagers have suffered from lead-contamination in Klity Creek in Kanchanaburi.
The disaster spawned a legal case that dragged on in Thai courts for 15 years. “Mae Nam Tid Shua” has already won a special-mention prize at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland.
The 11th World Film Festival of Bangkok is organised by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture and the Culture Ministry in collaboration with Nation Broadcasting Corporation, The Nation and SF Corporation. This year it features more than 60 offerings from 25 countries.
More details can be found at www.WorldFilmBKK.com.
