An evening with "Foster Child" and Netpac
The Contemporary World Film Series at FCCT has a special evening planned for Monday, when the FCCT hosts the 25th anniversary celebration for the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema, or Netpac, as the group is more popularly known.
The screening that night will be “Foster Child”, an acclaimed drama by award-winning Filipino director Brillante Mendoza. He’ll be present for the celebration alongside Netpac president and founder Dr Aruna Vasudev. The vice minister for Tourism and Sports, Associate Professor Chavanee Tongroach, is scheduled to be on hand to introduce the two guests.
Formed in 1990 in New Delhi, Netpac brings together Asian filmmakers, critics and film-studies academics, and organises juries that present awards at top film festivals, including Rotterdam and Berlin.
“Foster Child”, which won the Netpac Award at the Brisbane International Film Festival in 2007, centres on Thelma, portrayed by Cherry Pie Picache, who lives in the Manila slums and works as a foster mother for an adoption agency. The story tracks Thelma as she achingly forms a bond with one toddler, a boy named John-John, and follows her on her last day with him before she hands him off to a wealthy American family.
Activities get underway at 6pm with a cocktail reception. The screening is at 7.30pm, followed by question time with Mendoza and Vasudev. Admission is Bt150 for non-members and Bt100 for anybody wanting to sip Bombay Sapphire Gin cocktails and nibble on snacks from Indique restaurant. For further details, check www.FCCThai.com.
Also showing
Shnit International Short Film Festival – The third Bangkok edition of the Swiss-based fest is running until Sunday at the Lido cinemas in Siam Square. Begun 13 years ago in Bern, the gimmick of this festival is that it is held on the same weekend in many cities worldwide. In addition to the line-up of submitted finalist foreign shorts, there is the “Made in Thailand” programme tonight and tomorrow, with the finalist Thai entries “Gen A” by Napat Tangsanga, “Enlightenment” by Sampattavanich Disspong, “Ma Nyein Chan” by Natpakhan Khemkhao, “Once Upon a Time in Tungyahlaum” by Natthapat Kraitrujpol, “Echoes from the Hill” by Pasit Tandaechanurat and Jirudtikal Prasonchum, “We Used to Love Each Other” by Aroonakorn Pick, “Deleted” by Nitaz Sinwattanakul and “1428” by Autthavisit Hatsadinthon Na Ayutthaya. Find out more at www.Shnit.org.
The Friese-Greene Club – Next Thursday is the first of two special screenings of “So Very Very”, which recently wrapped up a run at House on RCA. A romantic comedy, “So Very Very” is a about a struggling South Korean filmmaker who falls in love with a Thai woman. Oh Chang-kyung and Cho Ha-young star. South Korean director Jack Park will be on hand for next Thursday’s show. A second FGC screening is set for October 22. Shows are at 8pm. For details, check FGC.in.th
Alliance Francaise – A tax inspector (Benoit Poelvoorde), his new bride and her sister become entwined in a love triangle in 2014’s “Three Coeurs” (“Three Hearts”). Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chiara Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve also star. It screens at 7pm on Wednesday. For details, check AFThailande.org.
