Published on May 23, 2005

Hello, deal-makers, have we got a film for you. Even without a local flick in competition, there’s plenty of Thai smiles on the Croisette this year

It was all about superstars on the red carpet at last year’s Cannes International Film Festival, but this year everyone was awaiting the return of such noted auteur directors as Lars Von Tier, Gus Van Sant and David Cronenberg to La Croisette.

And an international mega-deal for good old Thailand.

Hong Kong’s Johnnie To, Asia’s most active filmmaker, was in the main competition for the first time with the bullet-free triad drama “Election”, along with Japan’s Masahiro Kobayashi’s “Bashing”.

They were up against Cronenberg’s thriller “A History of Violence”, Von Tier’s “Manderlay” and “Cache” (“Hidden”) by Austrian Michael Haneke.

With no Thai movies at the festival there was less excitement for the Kingdom, but its presence is felt, with more than 100 folks from the Land of Smiles in town at the invitation of the Federation of National Film Association of Thailand (FNFAT).

Cannes, a huge trade mart as well as a giant star-studded screening room, is a place where Thai flicks are usually able to catch up on costs that went wayward back home.

With the current best-selling genres action and monster movies, Asian horror movies have shown they can scare audiences just as much as any giant Hollywood anaconda, and French moviegoers were lapping up the muay thai sequences in “Chokdee”.

New action movie “Tom Yum Goong” has proved tasty enough to earn bids ranging from US$10 million to $15 million (Bt400 million to Bt600 million).

A deal is expected soon.

Last year’s top-grossing Thai film “Shutter” is clicking smoothly, having sold to Hollywood for $1 million. Distribution rights have been secured in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and a price is being hammered out for Peru and other countries.

“Asian horror is still a hit on the world market,” says Yongyooth Thongkongtoon, who’s responsible for GTH’s foreign film sales.

It’s a big step forward for a company that was only founded last year and has opted to market its products alone rather than appoint a foreign distributor.

“For sales, it’s better to work alone. For festival selection, we adopt a different approach,” says Yongyooth.

Aside from “Shutter”, GTH is marketing three other completed movies: Yongooth’s own “Jaew” (“Maid”), Jira Malikool’s “Mahalai Muang Rae” (“The Tin Mine”) and Yuthlert Sippapak’s comedy “Sai Lor Fah”.

Five Star was highlighting “The Art of the Devil” and has sent its more artistic “Mah Nakorn” (“Citizen Dog”) to Luc Besson’s Europa Company for worldwide distribution.

Parade Imapungporn refuses to reveal the price, but says a high-stakes deal is not the goal for “Mah Nakorn”.

Rather, the company wants to respect the wishes of director Wisit Sasanatieng’s and ensure that no changes can be made

to the movie with his consent.

“We don’t want another repeat of his debut ‘Fah Talai Jone’ [‘Tears of the Black Tiger’], which was bought by Miramax and had its ending changed without any respect paid to the filmmaker’s ideas.

“If there are to be any changes, then priority should be given to the director,” says Parade, adding that there’s an arrangement to co-produce the film with Europa.

The most promising prospect for Thai cinema is “Tom Yum Goong”, currently in post-production and scheduled for release on August 12.

There are high expectations for Prachya Pinkaew’s second movie after the worldwide success of “Ong Bak”, which garnered muay thai global recognition.

The star of both movies, Phanom “Jaa” Yeerum, aka Tony Jaa, was immediately noticeable in the roving group of Thais and constantly surrounded by fans. Director Prachya was popular too, with martial-arts fans constantly approaching him for stunt jobs.

The film’s producer, Somsak Techaratanaprasert, is already preparing to celebrate and has invited guests from all over the globe to watch the world premiere in Thailand come August.

“I want to let the world know Thailand and how much talent we have,” vows the producer, who is also president of FNFAT.

After decades of being ignored by the government, FNFAT has finally won some support to finance “Thai Night” at Cannes and cover some of the travel costs.

Following complaints from filmmakers that last year’s sponsors, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, had focused too much on tempting festival-goers to visit the Kingdom rather than promoting their movies, this year’s Thai Night was sponsored by the Foreign Ministry.

It was a successful event, with hundreds of guests enjoying Thai munchies while listening to a speech by Culture Minister Uraiwan Thienthong.

While government support remains limited, the minister’s visit to Cannes is seen as a positive development.

It’s widely hoped that Thailand will follow the example of South Korea, where the government injects bags of money into the film industry to secure its status as a leading commercial and festival hub.

Maybe too, filmmakers say, the big baht that “Tom Yum Goong” is expected to bring home will prod the government to do more for the entertainment business.

The writer’s trip to Cannes was supported by the FNFAT and the Culture Ministry.

Parinyaporn Pajee

The Nation

Post your comment to this story here