Movies on the move

From the outside it looks every inch an ordinary trailer truck, the kind that plies the Kingdom’s roads transporting goods from town to town. 

Parked up, however, and the truck undergoes a complete transformation, hydraulically expanding into a free air-conditioned 100-seat movie theatre with an up-to-date movie system, including possibilities for 3D screening, and giving off the same atmosphere as a multiplex has. 

Dubbed the Cinemobile, it’s the Thai Film Archive’s latest tool in spreading the word about movies to those who live far away from theatres.

Archive director Dome Sukwong feels strongly that everyone should have the possibility to enjoy “movie magic”, which he describes as “watching together in a darkened room” so has made it the archive’s mission to promote a movie culture, especially among the young.

 “It’s a different feeling. Movies are made to show on the big screen and their power increases when people watch them together. It’s all about sharing an experience that is expressed in different ways while watching – crying or laughing, for example – which you just don’t get when watching on TV or on the computer at home,” he says.

While Thailand is well served by cinemas, they tend to be only in the main provincial towns. With distances between villages and towns often 100 kilometres or more, rural folk rarely bother making the effort to see a film.

Archive committee member Chiranan Pitpreecha fully agrees with Dome, saying that watching a movie at the cinema can be inspiring for young people. “Just like me, I was fascinated by the way in which the subtitles had been translated and it eventually become my career,” says the SEAWrite award winner.

She adds that the movie is important for children, as it combines arts and sciences while watching it in the company of others infuses a sense of social culture.

Up until a few years, small rural centres did get to see films on the big screen thanks to “nang klang plaeng”, the travelling outdoor cinemas that would draw villagers of all ages. While that has become obsolete, Dome is confident that the cinemobile can take its place and attract viewers.

The Bt80-million cinemobile, the first of its kind in Asia, was specially built in France, shipped to Thailand and is scheduled to start travelling on the kingdom’s roads next year. One side of the trailer is decorated with a giant poster-like mural that brings together film stars from past to present including the late Mitr Chaibancha and Nadech Kugimiya. Created by Somboonsook “Piak Poster” Niyomsiri and his protege, the painting is reminiscent of the old-style Thai film posters that were so popular in the 1970-80s.

The cinemobile’s first tour will be around the Northeast. After a short break back in Bangkok, it will then head to the deep south for screenings in Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani provinces.

Three or four staff members acting as projectionist, coordinator and film moderator will travel with the caravan and they will be responsible for organising activities prior to and after the screenings. Each trip is scheduled to take between two or three months with breaks in Bangkok.

As 3-phase electricity is required for the operation of the Cinemobile, the trailer will also carry its own generator.

These mobile screenings fall under the umbrella of the School Cinema project, which the archive has been running for three years through bringing students to its Sri Salaya theatre.

It takes its inspiration from the Swedish Film Archive, which has also successfully operated a film project directed at the young by choosing age-appropriate films and integrating social learning and constructive thinking with watching movies.

The routes have been well researched too, not least because of concerns about low-hanging electric cables, especially around schools, and state of the parking areas which needs to be flat and even accommodate the trailer. 

Setting up takes about an hour and the plan is to screen films at school during the day for students and in the evening for local residents. The cinemobile will travel with a movie package that include short animations for kindergarten-level kids and a full-length animations or movies with appropriate content for each age group. The archive has already obtained the rights for screening films from several different countries and these include Japanese animations “My Neighbour Totoro”, “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea,” and Hollywood films like “Juno.”  So far, there are only two Thai movies on the list: Bhandit Rittakol’s “Kalla Khrung Nueng… Mua Chao Nee” (“Once Upon a Time... This Morning”), which deals with kids with family problems and is deemed appropriate for teenagers, and “Prachao Chang Phuak” (“The King of the White Elephant”).

Screening sessions will start with a brief explanation of conduct in movie theatres and a briefing on the story while games and discussions will follow the film.

The evening programme will feature classic Thai movies.