Bangkok gets the star treatment

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 (成龍), who appeared at Sunday's closing film ceremony, had also just wrapped up shooting in Thailand for Around the World in 80 days. His previous movie The Medallion was also shot mostly in Thailand.

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.