THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Making the most of Amazing Thailand

Making the most of Amazing Thailand

The Department of Tourism, which recently hosted the awards ceremony for the winners of the Thailand International Film Destination Festival’s short film competition, was impressed by the quality of this year’s entries, giving the Grand Prize in the International Team category to the Philippines (Team 12) and recognising Team 9 from Bangkok University in the Thai team category.

This year’s festival aimed to connect with international members of the film industry and give them an opportunity to have a hands-on experience of filming in Thailand with a Thai crew.
“We received great feedback from film students around the world, with 277 teams applying for the short film competition and 24 teams from England, Bulgaria, Portugal, Brazil, India, the Philippines and Singapore making it through to the final round. They were assigned to shoot their short films in 8 tourism locations around the country under the concept ‘Thai Style’ and give their own interpretation to nature, culture and the local identity. Fifteen Thai student teams, selected from 36 teams, were assigned to shoot under the concept “Sufficiency Economy” in any province in Thailand,” Anan Wongbenjarat, the department’s director general, explained.
“To promote the potential of Thailand and attract international production through the visions of new generation is a very effective strategy. Many foreign productions, including movies, TV programmes, music videos and documentaries, have been filmed in Thailand, which reflects our potential as a film destination with skilled crews and facilities. Therefore, Thailand International Film Destination Festival is very important to promote and present our success to the world as the most popular filming location in Asia,” he added. 
Many distinguished international and Thai actors and directors also joined the award ceremony including Wes Chatham from “The Hunger Games”, Justin Diemen, producer of “Before the Fall” and Dimitri Logothetis, director and screenwriter of “Kickboxer 1” and Kickboxer2” plus Thai actors Vithaya Parnsringam and Pu Sahajak. 
“Thailand on Screen”, which saw seven foreign movies shot in Thailand screened at Paragon Cineplex earlier this month, was also well received. The films – “Kickboxer: Vengeance”, “Largo Winch II”, “Lupin the 3rd”, “The 101-Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared”, “Kickboxer: Retaliation”, “Will You Be There?” and “All I See Is You” – have attracted tourists to visit the film locations. 
 

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