A residence for writing

Long regarded as an excellent opportunity for aspiring film makers, the Residence du Festival project, an initiative of the Cannes Film Festival, sets out to help talented young directors who have already made a short or perhaps even a feature film but dream of going a whole lot further. Created in 1998 by festival president Gilles Jacob as part of the Cannes Cin้fondation programme, it chooses a dozen young directors each year and provides a house for them in Paris for four and a half months to work on their first or second feature film. They meet big-name directors and producers and travel to festivals like Cannes and Locarno to pitch their projects.This year two Thai film makers were selected - Sivaroj "Karn" Kongsakul and Pramote Sangsorn. They were among six directors from Ukraine, Germany, Hungary and Russia who lived in the project's house in Paris from March to July."It not like a movie academy. They treat us as directors and at the same time they help us to develop the script by inviting famous directors like Olivier Assayat and Claire Denis as well as producers to discuss our projects," says Pramote, whose project received Bt2 million in funding from the Culture Ministry's "Thai Khem Khang" ("Strong Thailand") project."The programme helped me to learn my weak spots and the discussions were very useful for my project. What I learned from the Residence project was a way of thinking that's helped me be disciplined," says Pramote, who was an actor as a teenager.Sivaroj just smiles. He's already directed his first feature "Tee Rak" ("Eternity"), which won awards at fests in Busan, Rotterdam, Hong Kong and Deauville, France. It opened last week at Bangkok's SF World Cinema. He's at work on his second feature "Arunkarn", which depicts the last days in the lives of two war veterans.Pramote, on the other hand, is working on his debut feature, "Tam-Rasisalai", which is set in his father's hometown in Si Sa Ket province. The story is about a man who believes his dead son has been reincarnated as a giant lizard.While some directors in the Residence programme devoted all the time in Paris to movie-making, Sivaroj tended to spend time observing Parisian life while Pramote went to the movies, looked for good books and visited art museums."It seemed that we had to be concerned about 'movie things' all the time. But I |wasn't. When I'm in Thailand, I like to spend time watching people," says Sivaroj. "Making movies doesn't just require expertise in technique. A lot comes from the filmmaker himself and I get that by experiencing life."However, what I did learn from the project and what fascinated me the most is the efficiency. They may take siestas in Europe but their work is flawless. For example, some mistakes in screening always seem to happen at Thai film festivals but I rarely saw it there. Every step was well planned. When we were at a festival and having dinner, our seating was arranged so that we would be sitting next to producers who might be interested in our projects."Sivaroj was an exception for the project: Most of the directors were working on their first feature. He says that that mostly they are very enthusiastic and focusing on making their works as good as they can."They probably have plenty of ideas for their debuts like shooting using 35mm film only, not digital, or needing a lot of money to complete the project. My experience with 'Eternity' helped me to be more realistic because I understand that when it comes to the pitching process or to getting funds, nothing is beautiful as we expect," Sivaroj says.Sivaroj and Pramote suggest that any other young directors interested in applying for the programme prepare a portfolio and a comprehensive brief on their project. English skills are required, but fluency isn't necessary."My English skills aren't so good but at the end of day they will look beyond that barrier; they want to know our ideas and our 'true self'. We need to able to explain to them our working details and who we are. Some directors we met rarely spoke English; what they did was just handed us a paper to read instead of speaking," says SivarojBoth say their scripts are almost completed. Sivaroj hopes to finish the details once he is on location while Pramote wants to start filming as soon as possible.
WATCH HIS WORKSivaroj Kongsakul's debut feature "Eternity" ("Tee Rak") is showing at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld.Show times are at 7.30 on weeknights and 2.30 and 7.10pm on Saturday and Sunday.Sivaroj will be present for a Q&A after this Saturday's matinee.And after that there will be a screening of Sivaroj's short films by the Third Class Citizen group in the cinema's Eat@DoubleU restaurant.