Destination Thailand

The annual Thailand International Film Destination festival has only been running for two days but is already the subject of controversy following the withdrawal of one of the highlights, “Sin Saeng Chan” (“Twilight Over Burma”). As reported in The Nation yesterday, “Sin Saeng Chan” joined three other films – the Chinese comedy “Detective Chinatown,” “Happy Hour in Paradise” from Sweden and the French comedy “Pattaya” in disappearing from the screening list, leaving just 10 movies on the festival programme. 

While organisers have given no reason for banning “Sin Saeng Chan”, the decision comes as little surprise. The film, which is loosely based on the book “Twilight Over Burma – My Life as a Shan Princess” written by Inge Eberhard (now Sargent), an Austrian student who fell in love with a young Burmese student in the 1950s only to discover that her husband was the ruling prince of Shan State, was hastily removed from the programme of last month’s Human Rights Watch film festival in Myanmar too.

The reason for the removal of “Pattaya”, described as France’s answer to “The Hangover”, is less clear, though perhaps the authorities felt that the story of two financiers taking a neighbourhood dwarf on a trip to the Thai resort and entering him in a local boxing match, was in poor taste. Negative connotations concerning religion were almost certainly to blame for the deletion of “Happy Hour”, which tells the story of a Swedish priest running a Swedish church in Thailand, who appears to enjoy drinking and flirting with women more than praying. For its part, “Detective Chinatown” was already released at local cinemas back in April.

Of the 10 films remaining on the programme, two are enjoying their international premieres here in Bangkok. 

“The Asian Connection” is an action movie that went straight to DVD and stars Steven Seagal and Michael Jai White as two American expatriates who accidentally steal a drug lord’s money when they rob a series of banks in Southeast Asia and become the target of the gang’s vengeance.

Italian film “Un Nuovo Giorno” tells the story of a man who comes to Thailand to undergo a sex-change operation and become the woman he has always dreamed of being. 

The festival also features three other American films – “The River,” “The Man with the Iron Fists 2” and the cyber crime flick movie “Hacker”.

Also showing are two Indian films –“Fireflies” and “Baaghi” – both of which have already been shown on the Thai cinema screen and the French drama “Sunny and the Elephant”, about a young city boy who wants to be a mahout..

Rounding out the programme are Japanese film “Sayonara Itsuka” starring Miho Nakyama and China’s “Forever Young” about members of a school band who become ballet dancers in honour of their fellow classmates who passed away in a tragic accident.

The festival has been held annually since 2013 and aims to promote Thailand as a location destination. In 2015, 724 films were shot in Thailand, generating Bt3.16 billion for the country. Every foreign film productions being shot in Thailand must submit the script to the Thailand Film Office for approval before the filming begins.

The government is working to encourage more international productions to shoot films here and recently announced a 15-per-cent cash incentive.

Two films are being screened daily through Thursday and some are followed by a Q&A session. However, the website gives no details of who will be on hand to answer the audience’s questions. 

The “Amazing Thailand Challenge” returns this year with contestants invited to film in eight strategic tourism areas. Thirty-two teams, each made up of two foreign film students as producers and one Thai film student as a production assistant, have submitted entries. Ten prizes are up for grabs: one for the winner in each of the eight areas covered, a grand prize for the best team and a special prize for the most popular film on social media.