- 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival
Infobox Film Festival
name = 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival
caption = The official festival poster.
opening = "Children of Glory "
closing = "Muay Thai Chaiya "
awardsreceived =
awardsgiven = Golden Kinaree Award for Best Film: "XXY"
films =
directors =
producers =
writers =
starring =
host =
date =July 19 toJuly 29 ,2007
number =
location =CentralWorld ,Bangkok
language =
website = The 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival was held from July 19 to July 29, 2007, atSF Group 's SF World Cinema atCentralWorld . The fifth consecutive year for the festival, organizers planned a program of about 100 films, with an emphasis onAsian cinema . [ [http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30027615 TAT's rescheduled film festival on July 19-29] , The Nation, retrieved 2007-03-17.]cheduling, budgetary difficulties
Originally scheduled for January 26 to February 5, the festival was postponed because of a lack of available venues, since Bangkok cinemas at the time had planned to be fully booked with screenings of the part one of "The Legend of King Naresuan".
In addition, the film festival organization was hit with a massive budget cut, from 180 million baht to 60 million baht, which resulted in festival organizers, the
Tourism Authority of Thailand , having to break their contract with Los Angeles-based Film Festival Management, which had programmed the festival since 2004.In previous years, the festival's focus had been on big-budget Hollywood films and lavish, red-carpet appearances by celebrities, flown to Bangkok at the festival's expense. With the budget cut and the focus on Asian films, the 2007 festival was expected to be a departure from past years. [http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/22/headlines/headlines_30027616.php BKK International Film Festival reschedules] , "The Nation", 2007-02-22.]
Controversy
The festival initially announced that the French-produced animated feature "Persepolis" would open the festival. The film is an adaptation of a graphic novel by
Marjane Satrapi (who co-directed the film), telling the story of her childhood growing up in Iran during theIslamic Revolution . However, the Embassy ofIran asked the festival organizers to consider showing another film from Iran, so "Persepolis" was dropped from the program. The festival director, Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, was quoted as saying:I was invited by the Iranian embassy to discuss the matter and we both came to mutual agreement that it would be beneficial to both countries if the film was not shown. It's a good film, but there are other considerations. [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSBKK1636620070627 Thailand pulls Iranian cartoon from film festival] , "Reuters", 2007-06-27.]
We had a request from the Iranian Embassy that the film festival remove the film, and we did. Now we move on. [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/27/arts/AS-A-E-MOV-Thailand-Iran-Movie-Flap.php Thai festival removes praised film after pressure from Iran] , "AP", 2007-06-27.]
However, Chattan also said that the decision to cancel the film was his alone and that "there was no outside pressure".
The Hungarian film, "
Children of Glory ", depicting the "Blood in the Water" Olympic water polo match and theHungarian Revolution of 1956 , was chosen as the replacement opening film.Program highlights
The festival's lineup featured a retrospective of films by Spanish director
Luis Buñuel and a tribute to Indian actressHema Malini . Malini was among the celebrities taking part in the festival's opening night festivities.The main competition categories for the Golden Kinaree were for international films and ASEAN films from
Southeast Asia , as well as an international short-film competition. Non-competition sections were for Thai Panorama (Thai films released in 2006 and 2007) Asian films, ASEAN films, documentaries and the wide-ranging Windows on the World.The closing film was "
Muay Thai Chaiya ", a Thai boxing drama film directed byKongkiat Khomsiri .Competition
Competition trophies were given out in an awards banquet presided over by Princess
Ubol Ratana in the World Ballroom in theCentara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre atCentralWorld .Golden Kinaree Awards
* Winner: "XXY", directed by
Lucía Puenzo (Argentina)cite web | last = Rithdee | first = Kong | title = "XXY" triumphs at troubled Bangkok fest | publisher = Variety | date = 2007-07-29 | url = http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/1755/1/ | accessdate = 2007-07-29 ]
* Special jury award: "Lost in Beijing ", directed by Li Yu (China)
** "Beaufort", directed byJoseph Cedar (Israel)
** "Getting Home ", directed by Zhang Yang (China/Hong Kong)
** "Ploy " (uncensored version), directed byPen-ek Ratanaruang (Thailand)
** "Sankara", directed byPrasanna Jayakody (Sri Lanka)
** "Spider Lilies", directed byZero Chou (Taiwan)
** "The Edge of Heaven", directed byFatih Akin (Turkey)
** "This Is England ", directed byShane Meadows (United Kingdom)ASEAN competition
* Winner: "
Before We Fall in Love Again ", directed by James Lee (Malaysia)
** "Alone", directed byBanjong Pisanthanakun andParkpoom Wongpoom (Thailand)
** "Bangkok Time ", directed bySanti Taepanich (Thailand)
** "Dancing Bells ", directed byDeepak Kumaran Menon (Malaysia)
** "Koper" ("The Lost Suitcase"), directed byRichard Oh (Indonesia)
** "Love for Share ", directed byNia Dinata (Indonesia)
** "Manoro ", directed byBrillante Mendoza (Philippines)
** "Pao’s Story ", directed byQuang Hai Ngo (Vietnam)
** "The Bet Collector ", directed byJeffrey Jeturian (Philippines)
** "The Unseeable ", directed byWisit Sasanatieng (Thailand)Lifetime Achievement Award
*
Ray Harryhausen Jameson International Short Films Award
* Winner: "Eternally Yours", directed by
Atsushi Ogata (Japan)References
External links
* [http://www.bangkokfilm.org/ Official site]
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