Critics sing praises for 'The Songs of Rice'

A STRONG SLATE of Thai films was presented at the 43rd International Film Festival Rotterdam, which wrapped up last weekend with awards that included honours for “The Songs of Rice”, a documentary by Uruphong Raksasad.
Making its world premiere in the Bright Future programme, the film looks at such rites as rocket festivals, buffalo races and other traditions that are connected to rice cultivation in Thailand. It is Uruphong’s third feature, following his collection of short rural tales Stories from the North and his farm-family portrait Agrarian Utopia.
The Jury of the Federation Internationale de la Presse Cinematographique (Fipresci) selected it as the winner of all the 22 world premieres in Bright Future. “Fully relying on its strong cinematography, it creates an immersive sensory experience that makes us part of a vivid community revolving around the cultivation of a tiny grain,” Fipresci said.
“The Songs of Rice” is produced by Pimpaka Towira and is handled by the new company Mosquito Films Distribution.
Another Mosquito entry was in main competition, the Tiger Awards for first or second-time features, “Concrete Clouds”, the feature directorial debut of long-time film editor Lee Chatametikool.
The Tiger Awards went to filmmakers from Japan, Sweden and South Korea: “Anatomy of a Paper Clip” by Ikeda Akira, “Something Must Break” by Ester Martin Bergsmark and “Han Gong-Ju” by Lee Su-Jin.
Rotterdam also has a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema, and the Netpac Award went to “28” by Prasanna Jayakody from Sri Lanka.

Transiting to Berlin
Experimental filmmaker Jakrawal Nilthamrong is taking part in this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, which started yesterday.
He has three entries in the Forum Expanded programme, “Stone Cloud”, “Hangman” and “INTRANSIT”.
“Stone Cloud”, a 30-minute short, has a monk tasking villagers to move a big stone up a hill. He wishes to smooth the rock so he can sit on it and meditate. While the monk is sculpting the stone, a state of deep contemplation occurs. He sees past, present and future.
“The story in ‘Stone Cloud’ derives from a monk friend who was ordained and lived in a jungle temple,” Jakrawal explains in the programme notes. “He was a gifted film director and cinematographer, winning numerous awards before left the worldly life to become an isolated monk. I always try to visit him as much as I can … And every time I saw him and spent the nights at the jungle temple a marvelous peacefulness occurred.”
His other two projects, “Hangman” and “INTRANSIT”, are in the group art exhibition “What Do We Know When We Know Where Something Is?”
“Hangman” is an execution scene based on the memory of the son of the late Chavoret Jaruboon, Thailand’s last executioner who passed away recently of cancer. Coincidentally, he’s the subject of an upcoming biographical film “The Last Executioner” by director Tom Waller and starring “Only God Forgives” crimefighter Vithaya Pansringarm.
“INTRANSIT” is a multimedia installation that was the centerpiece of a group exhibition last year at Chulalongkorn Art Center in Bangkok. An ode to a medium that’s fast disappearing in this digital age, it featured a loop of film running through a specially equipped classroom projector. “Through spectacular images of a planet in creation, made using 1960s sci-fi special effects incorporating organic materials, scale models and shooting on 35mm film, INTRANSIT presents a spectacular testament to a medium in transition,” says the programme.
According to Jakrawal, he’s sending his loop of film to Berlin, with the festival organisers taking care of rigging up a projector to run it.
Another interesting entry in Berlin is Singaporean filmmmaker Tan Pin Pin’s documentary “To Singapore, With Love”, which features interviews with Singaporeans living in political exile. It controversially included one exile who lived in Thailand, which caused it to be dropped from last year’s World Film Festival of Bangkok.
Also in Berlin, four young Thai indie filmmakers – Pathompong “Big” Manakitsomboon, Wanlop Rungkumjad, Rasiguet Sookkarn and Sompot “Boat” Chidgasornpongse – are taking part in the Talent Campus. The Berlin fest runs until February 16.