Showing 1 - 9 of 9
Asean on screen
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 02/09/2020
» Ahead of the BAFF featuring Southeast Asian movies plus Chinese and Japanese titles, Life spoke with two filmmakers about their work
Get animated over anime
Life, Melalin Mahavongtrakul, Published on 10/07/2020
» From classics to new favourites, Japanese animated films of different genres are taking turns parading into local cinemas this month.
Asean films receive special showcase
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/07/2018
» The riches of Southeast Asian stories and images are celebrated at the 4th Bangkok Asean Film Festival, which opens tonight at SF CentralWorld and runs until Sunday. Hosted by the Thai Ministry of Culture, this year's edition marks the 51st anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the regional body whose primary mission is economics and which increasingly pays more heed to cultural promotion.
Giving women a voice
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 03/03/2017
» A robust line-up of films is coming to us in HeForShe Arts Week Bangkok Film Festival. Organised by UN Women, next week's festival has selected films with messages on gender equality -- or inequality -- and unfair treatment of women in different cultures (not just in the "Third World" countries, to be sure). It sounds heavy, but the good thing is that the titles picked for the event this year are entertaining and heartfelt on top of being socially relevant.
Enjoy a Japanese treat this weekend
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 10/02/2017
» This week Japanese Film Festival 2017 continues at SF CentralWorld, and we also have a regular release (though with limited showtime) of acclaimed Japanese drama Harmonium. Let's take a look at what's on offer.
A tasty alternative to movies-as-usual
Life, Melalin Mahavongtrakul, Published on 15/09/2016
» Finding alternative, independent films amidst mainstream Hollywood blockbusters in Thai cinemas can often feel like finding a needle in a haystack. The selection is small. Screening times, often at odd hours, are limited. And those living outside of Bangkok -- far away from the arthouse spots like Lido and House RCA -- can't help but wonder: "Don't I have anything else to watch but Sully, Don't Breathe and Shin Godzilla this week?".
Doc lovers rejoice!
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 18/03/2016
» It is high time for audiences who appreciate the rough-edged reality of documentary films. Of the five nominees of the Oscar for best documentary feature, three had a regular release in Bangkok cinemas (Amy, Cartel Land, The Look of Silence), something unthinkable a few years ago when no distributor wanted to risk showing non-fiction films in cinemas. Now there is almost always at least one documentary film at SF CentralWorld, with the initiation of the independent outfit Documentary Club (in the programme now is The Hunting Ground, about rape crimes in American universities).
Evocative hymn to Thai rice
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 23/01/2015
» This is the film you simply have to see this weekend. Uruphong Raksasad's Pleng Khong Kao (The Songs Of Rice) is a lyrical poetry of image and sound, as beautiful as 19th-century pastoral paintings and as evocative as murmured hymns. In a compact 75 minutes, we see muddied beasts stomping the paddies and whirring tractors aglow with nocturnal eyes; we hear the chanting for the Rice Goddess and rhythmic windpipe numbers for the harvest dance. We even marvel, unlikely as it seems, at a zonk-out sci-fi rendition of a northeastern rocket festival, ablaze with fire and sparks and songs and joy.
10 to see
Life, Published on 10/10/2014
» A banquet of movies is back to please gluttonous (not always a bad thing) cinema-goers at the 12th World Film Festival of Bangkok, which begins next Friday at SF CentralWorld. As usual, European titles, Asian mavericks, Latin American stories as well as hot documentaries pack the 10-day programme that shows a total of 60 films.