The 2004 Bangkok International Film Festival pulled out all the stops Sunday with fireworks over the Chaophraya River, French performers and traditional Thai dancers and musicians to entertain its 200 international guests on closing night.
The extravaganza brought to an end the 12-day event that culminated in the awarding of 11 prestigious Golden Kinnaree awards to Southeast Asian, as well as international, filmmakers.
The Barbarian Invasions, a French-Canadian drama about an ill hedonist reflecting on his life, won the Golden Kinnaree award in the international competition section, defeating films such as Lost in Translation, Girl With the Pearl Earring and the festival's Thai opening film, The Siam Renaissance. Last Life in the Universe, another Thai entry, by director Pen-ek Rattanaruang, won in the Best ASEAN Movie category.
PHOTO: YU SEN-LUN, TAIPEI TIMES
The winners were announced Saturday night at a gala dinner presided over by HRH Princess Ubolratana at the Royal Thai Navy Auditorium. Chinese actors Li Yixiang (
Giovanna Mezzagiorno won Best Actress for Facing Windows, also a strong winner at recent festivals. Jim Sheridan won Best Director for his latest project, In America, a story of Irish immigrants to the US. Oliver Stone also made an appearance to pick up a Career Achievement Award, while Christopher Doyle received a tribute award for his cinematography.
Unfortunately, except for Doyle and Stone, the other awardees failed to turn up to accept their awards, which dimmed somewhat the excitement at the gala dinner. Doyle began his cinematography career in Taiwan, gaining fame for his work with Wong Kar Wai (
PHOTO: YU SEN-LUN, TAIPEI TIMES
On top of taking the Crystal Lens Award for his achievement in shooting his characteristically stylish images of Asia, Doyle also shared the honor of the ASEAN Award, having been the cinematographer for Last Life in the Universe.
Despite the absence of the award winners, a few Hollywood A-list actors appeared at the gala dinner, adding some glam and media attention to the event and generating some publicity for their upcoming movies.
Among the most spotlighted was Chinese actress Bai Ling (
PHOTO: AP
"I feel especially lucky this year that I got all those offers purely by chance," said Bai. She said she bumped into Lucas' daughter at an MTV party and was introduced to Lucas. "I was sort of joking to George that he should have a role for me so that I can use a Chinese brush as a weapon. A few days later, I got the call!" she said.
Oliver Stone was another attention-grabber, as he pitched for the historical project Alexander, which is now shooting in Thailand. Colin Farrell (who stars as Alexander the Great) and Val Kilmer (as Phillip the king of Macedonia) showed up briefly at the gala.
Stone chose Thailand as his shooting location for Alexander because of the scenes that included elephants in King Alexander's battles in India. The elephants in Thailand are famous for being well-trained. Also, his good experiences shooting in Thailand for Heaven and Earth encouraged him to return, he said.
Promoting location shooting in Thailand is one of the main objectives of the Bangkok International Film Festival, which is organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The government is said to have spent 140 million Baht (some US$30 million) on the event.
During the first quarter of 2003, foreign films shooting in Thailand brought in earnings of some US$35 million, about three times the money earned in 2002.
Jackie Chan (
Despite the promising goals, local movie goers don't seem much satisfied with the film festival this year. Some college students see the festival as an event for foreign guests and expatriates. They complained that none of international films shown at the festival have Thai subtitles. Even during the screening of Thai films, the Q&A session with the filmmakers were conducted entirely in English, making many of local audience leave the theater in the middle of the discussion. "I didn't understand what the director said. So what's the point in staying," a college student was quoted as saying in the local English-language newspaper The Nation.
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