Cinema of Thailand - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The cinema of Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

dates back to the early days of filmmaking

History of film

The history of film is the historical development of the medium known variously as cinema, motion pictures, film, or the movies.The history of film spans over 100 years, from the latter part of the 19th century to the present day...

, when King Chulalongkorn

Chulalongkorn

Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama V was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang . He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam...

's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, where it was exhibited. This sparked more interest in film by the Thai Royal Family and local businessmen, who brought in filmmaking equipment and started to exhibit foreign films. By the 1920s, a local film industry was started and in the 1930s, the Thai film industry had its first "golden age", with a number of studios producing films.

The years after the Second World War saw a resurgence of the industry, which used 16 mm film

16 mm film

16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...

to produce hundreds of films, many of them hard-driving action films. Competition from Hollywood brought the Thai industry to a low point in the 1980s and '90s, but by the end of the '90s, Thailand had its "new wave", with such directors as Nonzee Nimibutr

Nonzee Nimibutr

Nonzee Nimibutr is a Thai film director, film producer and screenwriter. Best known for his ghost thriller, Nang Nak, he is generally credited as the leader among a "New Wave" of Thai filmmakers that also includes Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong...

, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang is a Thai film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his arthouse work, Last Life in the Universe, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul...

and Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. His feature films include Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, winner of the prestigious 2010 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or prize; Tropical Malady, which won a jury prize at the 2004...

as well as action hero Tony Jaa

Tony Jaa

Tatchakorn Yeerum , formerly Panom Yeerum , better known in the West as Tony Jaa, in Thailand as Jaa Panom, is a Thai martial artist, actor, choreographer, stuntman, director, and monk...

being celebrated at film festivals around the world.

The first Thai films

Auguste and Louis Lumière

The Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean , were among the earliest filmmakers in history...

had a film exhibition that toured in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

in 1894, and on June 9, 1897, “the wonderful Parisian cinematograph”
was screened in Bangkok

Bangkok

, and is the first known film screening in Thailand.

That same year, the film of the visit to Europe by King Chulalongkorn

Chulalongkorn

was brought back to Thailand, along with camera equipment acquired by the king's brother, Prince Thongthaem Sambassatra. The prince, considered "the father of Thai cinema", made many films and his work was shown commercially.

Japanese businessmen opened the first permanent cinema, the Japanese Cinematograph, in 1905. Japanese films were so popular that nang yipun became the generic term for all moving pictures. European and American films were called nang farang
Farang
Farang , also spelled falang, is the generic Thai word for a Westerner. A general term for foreigners is khon tang prathet . There is no expressly negative or positive implication in the word itself. However when it is used along with other words, it can bring a negative meaning depending on...

(after the nang drama

Nang drama

Nang yai is a form of shadow play found in Thailand. Puppets are made of buffalo hide, while the story is narrated by songs, chants and music....

(shadow puppet plays) that were a Thai traditional art).

Under another member of the royal family, Prince Kambeangbejr

Purachatra Jayakara

His Royal Highness Prince Purachatra Jayakara, the Prince of Kamphaengphet, or Phra Chao Boromwongse Ther Phra Ong Chao Purachatra Jayakara Kromma Phra Kamphaengphet Akarayothin ; 23 January 1881 – 29 January 1936) was a Prince of Siam and a member of the Siamese Royal Family...

, the Topical Film Service of the State Railway of Thailand

State Railway of Thailand

The State Railway of Thailand is the state-owned rail operator in Thailand. The network sees around 50 million passengers per annum.-History:SRT was founded as the Royal State Railways of Siam in 1890...

was set up. The service produced many promotional documentaries for the railroad and other government agencies and became an important training ground for many filmmakers. One of the early works produced was
Sam Poi Luang: Great Celebration in the North (Thai

Thai alphabet

Thai script , is used to write the Thai language and other, minority, languages in Thailand. It has forty-four consonants , fifteen vowel symbols that combine into at least twenty-eight vowel forms, and four tone marks ....

: สามปอยหลวง), a docudrama that became a hit when it was released in 1940.

Another of the first Thai films was Nang Sao Suwan, or Miss Suwanna of Siam
Miss Suwanna of Siam
Miss Suwanna of Siam, or Nang Sao Suwan, was a 1923 romance film written and directed by Henry MacRae, set in Thailand and starring Thai actors. It was one of first feature films to be made in Thailand, and was the first Hollywood co-production in Thailand...

, a Hollywood co-production with the Topical Film Service that was directed and scripted by Henry MacRae

Henry MacRae

Henry Alexander MacRae was a Canadian film director, producer and screenwriter during the silent era, working on many film serials for Universal Studios...

. It premiered on June 22, 1923 in Bangkok at the Phathanakorn Cinematograph. Unfortunately, Miss Suwanna has been lost over the years.

The first all-Thai feature was Chok Sorng Chan (Double Luck), produced by the Wasuwat brothers' Bangkok Film Company in 1927 and directed by Manit Wasuwat (Thai

Thai alphabet

: มานิต วสุวัต). That same year, another film company, Tai Phapphayon Thai Company, produced Mai Khit Loei (Unexpected).

Seventeen films were made between 1927 and 1932, but only fragments have survived, such as a one-minute car chase from Chok Sorng Chan or a two- to three-minute boxing match from Khrai Di Khrai Dai (None But the Brave).

Hollywood would also make other movies in Siam during this time, including the documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

, Chang
Chang (film)
Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness is a documentary film about a poor farmer in Issan and his daily struggle for survival in the jungle. The two directors of Chang, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B...

, by Merian C. Cooper

Merian C. Cooper

Merian Caldwell Cooper was an American aviator, United States Air Force and Polish Air Force officer, adventurer, screenwriter, and film director and producer. His most famous film was the 1933 movie King Kong.-Early life:...

and Ernest B. Schoedsack

Ernest B. Schoedsack

Ernest Beaumont Schoedsack was an American motion picture cinematographer, director, and producer.Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Schoedsack is probably best remembered for being the co-director of the 1933 film, King Kong....

, about a poor farmer struggling to carve out a living in the jungle. In making the film, they were assisted by Prince Yugala Dighambara

Yugala Dighambara

|align=right|HRH Prince Yugala Dighambara , Prince of Lopburi , was a son of HM King Chulalongkorn of Siam....

, grandfather of modern-day filmmaker Chatrichalerm Yukol

Chatrichalerm Yukol

His Serene Highness Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol is a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A prolific director since the 1970s, among his films is the 2001 historical epic, The Legend of Suriyothai. A member of the Thai royal family, his official royal title is Mom Chao, or M.C., the...

.

Robert Kerr, who served as assistant director to Henry MacRae on Miss Suwanna returned to Siam in 1928 to direct his own film, The White Rose. It was shown in Bangkok in September 1928.

The Golden Age

By 1928, the first "talkies" were being imported, providing some heavy competition for the silent Thai films. In the tradition of the benshi

Benshi

were Japanese performers who provided live narration for silent films . Benshi are sometimes also called or .-Role of the benshi:...

in Japan, local cinemas had entertaining narrators to introduce the films as well as traditional Thai orchestras that were often as big an audience pleaser as the films themselves, and but within two or three years, silent movies had given way to the talkies.

The first Thai sound film was Long Thang (Gone Astray), produced by the Wasuwat brothers, and premiered on April 1, 1932. Considered an ideological film in the period of political reform, the film proved a big success and led to the building of the Sri Krung Talkie Film Company in Bang Kapi

Bang Kapi

Bang Kapi is one of the 50 districts of Bangkok, Thailand. It is bounded by other Bangkok districts : Bueng Kum, Saphan Sung, Prawet, Suan Luang, Huai Khwang, Wang Thonglang, and Lat Phrao.-History:...

. It produced three to four films a year.

In 1933, Sri Krung made the first colour Thai film, Grandpa Som's Treasure (Pu Som Fao Sap).

This period up until 1942 is regarded by scholars as the "Golden Age" for Thai film.

Among the hit films of this period was the 1938 musical

Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

, Klua Mia (Wife-phobia) by the Srikrung studio. It was shot on 35-mm

35 mm film

35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...

colour stock. The stars were Chamras Suwakhon and Manee Sumonnat, the first Thai actors to be recognized as movie stars by having their names painted on their chairs while filming at the studio.

As the Second World War loomed, and the country being led by a dictatorship

Dictatorship

A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...

under Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram

Plaek Pibulsonggram

Field Marshal Plaek Pibunsongkhram , often known as Phibun Songkhram or simply Phibun in English, was Prime Minister and virtual military dictator of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.- Early years :...

film companies were pressed into service to make propaganda

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

films to whip up nationalism

Nationalism

Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...

.

Opposition politics found their way into film, too, with statesman Pridi Phanomyong

Pridi Phanomyong

Pridi Banomyong was a highly revered Thai politician. He was a former Prime Minister and Senior Statesman of Thailand, and was named one of the world's great personalities of the 20th century by UNESCO in 2000.-Family background:...

producing King of the White Elephant
King of the White Elephant
The King of the White Elephant is a 1940 Thai historical drama film.Based on a novel and produced by Pridi Banomyong and released before Thailand's involvement in World War II, the English-language film carried a propaganda message from anti-war interests in Thailand, that Thailand should remain...

, in 1940. With all the dialogue in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, Pridi hoped to send a message to the outside world that he was unhappy with the militaristic direction his country was taking. The film depicts the story of an ancient Siamese king who only goes to war after he's been attacked.

Film dubbing

The advent of sound raised another problem for cinemas in Thailand: the language of the talkies. Soon a dubbing

Dubbing (filmmaking)

Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...

method developed in which a dubber would provide a simultaneous translation of the dialogue by speaking Thai

Thai language

Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...

into a microphone at the back of the theater. The first Thai dubber was Sin Sibunruang, or "Tit Khiaw", who had worked for Siam Film Company and was the editor of the company's film magazine. Tit Khiaw and other talented dubbers became stars in their own right. They would perform all the roles in the films, both male and female, as well as such sound effects as animal noises, cars and gunfire.

Also, there were film companies that could not afford to make sound films, and would make films with the intention that they would be dubbed at screenings by live performers reading from a script. These dubbed films proved as popular as the talkies, especially if the dubber was well known.

Due to the extensive use of 16 mm film in the 1970s, the technique has lasted up until recent years, especially for outdoor screenings

Outdoor cinema

An outdoor cinema consists of a digital or analog movie projector, scaffolded construction or inflatable projection screen, and sound system....

of films at temple fairs in rural areas. Examples of a dubber at work can be seen in contemporary Thai films, Monrak Transistor
Monrak Transistor
Monrak Transistor is a 2001 Thai film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. Blending several genres, including comedy, romance, musical and crime, it is the story of a young man named Pan and his odyssey after he goes AWOL from the army and tries to make it as a luk thung singing star.-Plot:The story...

(2000

2000 in film

The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....

) and Bangkok Loco
Bangkok Loco
Bangkok Loco is a 2004 Thai comedy-musical-fantasy film directed by Pornchai Hongrattanaporn, written by Sompope Vejchapipat and starring Krissada Terrence. The story involves a gifted young rock drummer named Bay who commits a grisly murder and becomes a fugitive from the law...

(2004

2004 in film

The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...

Post-war years: The 16-mm era

After the end of the Second World War, filmmaking got under way again in Thailand using surplus 16 mm black-and-white stock from wartime newsreel

Newsreel

A newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers...

production.

At least two Thai films were produced in 1946. One was an action film

Action film

Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...

, Chai Chatree (Brave Men), directed by journalist-turned-filmmaker Chalerm Sawetanant. The screenplay was by writer Malai Chupinij, who would go on to script other films of the era, including Chao Fah Din Salai (Till Death Do Us Part). The other film noted by the National Film Archive for 1946 was an adaptation of a folktale, Chon Kawao (The Village of Chon Kawao).

The post-war boom in filmmaking really took off, however, with the use of 16-mm colour-reversal film, which was easy to obtain and make films with. The vividly coloured films were popular with audiences as well, prompting dozens of new filmmakers to enter the business.

Similar to the dubbing

Dubbing (filmmaking)

of films during the pre-war years, some of these films used dubbers to provide dialogue and sound effects as the film was running, further adding to the entertainment value of the movies. From 1947 until 1972, 16 mm was the industry standard for Thai film production.

The first hit of the era was 1949's Suparb Burut Sua Thai (Thai Gentlemen Fighters), which outgrossed Hollywood films at the local box office. That success prompted more enthusiasm for filmmaking, giving rise to the second "golden age" of Thai cinema.

Move toward 35 mm

At the height of the 16-mm era, cinematographer and director Rattana Pestonji

Rattana Pestonji

Rattana Pestonji was a Thai film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer and is regarded as the father of contemporary Thai film. Although his filmography was brief, his films placed Thai cinema on the world stage. He also pushed for innovations, and was one of the first Thai...

sought to use 35 mm film and generally improve the artistic quality of Thai films. Most of his films are regarded today as masterpieces, including Santi-Weena, which was the first Thai film to be entered into international competition, at the 1954 Asia Pacific Film Festival

Asia Pacific Film Festival

The Asia Pacific Film Festival, first held in 1954, is film festival held annually in an Asian country designated by the Board of Directors of the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific.Awards are handed out for:*Best Film*Best Director...

in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, and 1961's Black Silk
Black Silk
Black Silk is a 1961 Thai crime drama film written and directed by Rattana Pestonji.Considered the first Thai film noir, Black Silk was also among the first Thai films to be exhibited at overseas film festivals, screening at the 11th Berlin International Film Festival in 1961.-Plot:Seni, a club...

, the first Thai film in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival

Berlin International Film Festival

The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...

.

Though Rattana made relatively few films, he worked tirelessly to promote the industry, and died in 1970 as he was to make a speech to government officials about setting up a national film agency.

The 1970s and '80s

Thailand saw an explosion of locally produced films during the 1970s after the Thai government imposed a heavy tax on imported films in 1977, which led to a boycott of Thailand by Hollywood studios. To pick up the slack, 150 Thai films were made in 1978 alone. Many of these films were low-grade action films and were derided by critics and scholars as "nam nao" or "stinking water".

But socially conscious films were being made as well, especially by Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol

Chatrichalerm Yukol

, a US-educated filmmaker and member of the Thai Royal Family, whose own family had been involved with filmmaking since the industry started in Thailand. Among Chatrichalerm's films during the 1970s was Khao Chue Karn (Dr. Karn), which addressed corruption in the Thai civil service

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

and was nearly banned by the military-dominated regime of Thanom Kittikachorn

Thanom Kittikachorn

Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn was a military dictator of Thailand. A staunch anti-Communist, Thanom oversaw a decade of military rule in Thailand from 1963 to 1973, until public protests which exploded into violence forced him to step down...

. Chatrichalerm also made Hotel Angel (Thep Thida Rong Raem), about a young woman trapped into a life of prostitution

Prostitution in Thailand

Prostitution in Thailand is illegal, although in practice it is tolerated and partly regulated. Prostitution is practised openly throughout the country. Local officials with commercial interests in prostitution often protect the practice. The precise number of prostitutes is difficult to assess;...

. He made dozens of films along these socially conscious lines through the 1990s, working up to his lavish historical epic, The Legend of Suriyothai
The Legend of Suriyothai
The Legend of Suriyothai is a 2001 Thai film directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol, telling the story of Queen Suriyothai, who died in a battle in 1548 against Burmese invaders...

in 2001

2001 in film

The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...

.

Another filmmaker active during this time was Vichit Kounavudhi

Vichit Kounavudhi

Vichit Kounavudhi was a Thai film director and screenwriter. His works include the docudrama Son of the Northeast.-Early career:...

, who made his share of action films as well as more socially conscious works like First Wife, about the custom of men taking "second wives" or "mia noi" – a euphemism

Euphemism

A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...

for mistress

Mistress (lover)

A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...

. Vichit also made Her Name is Boonrawd (1985), about prostitution

Prostitution

Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...

around an American military airbase

U-Tapao International Airport

-Charter services:-Accidents and incidents:On 28 October 1977, a Douglas DC-3 of Air Vietnam was hijacked to U-Tapao International Airport where the four hijackers surrendered. Two people on board the aircraft were killed in the hijacking...

during the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. Vichit's best known works are two semi-documentary films, Mountain People (Khon Phukao), an adventure tale about a young hill-tribe couple, and Look Isan (Son of the Northeast), about a family of subsistence farmers in 1930s Isan

Isan

Isan is the northeastern region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Prachinburi mountains south of Nakhon Ratchasima...

.

Also in 1985, director Euthana Mukdasanit

Euthana Mukdasanit

Euthana Mukdasanit is a Thai film director and screenwriter. As a contemporary of Chatrichalerm Yukol, Euthana was among a group of directors that during the 1970s made films that focused on social problems...

made Pee Seua lae Dawkmai (Butterfly and Flower), highlighting hardships along the Southern Thailand

Southern Thailand

Southern Thailand is a distinct region of Thailand, connected with the Central region by the narrow Kra Isthmus.-Geography:Southern Thailand is located on the Malay Peninsula, with an area around 70,713 km², bounded to the north by Kra Isthmus as the narrowest part of the peninsula. The...

border. Not only did the film help expose urban Thais to regional poverty, the film broke new ground in its portrayal of a Buddhist-Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

relationship. It won the Best Film award at the Hawaii International Film Festival

Hawaii International Film Festival

The Hawaii International Film Festival is a film festival held in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It was started in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko and has been held annually in the fall for two weeks...

The Thai New Wave

By 1981, Hollywood studios were once again sending films to Thailand. Also, television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

(see also Media in Thailand) was a growing part of Thai culture. This was a low period for the Thai film industry, and by the mid-1990s, studio output was averaging about 10 films per year.

In the wake of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, three directors of television commercials – Nonzee Nimibutr

Nonzee Nimibutr

, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

and Wisit Sasanatieng

Wisit Sasanatieng

Wisit Sasanatieng is a Thai film director and screenwriter of Chinese descent...

– were thinking that films needed to be more artistic to attract investors and audiences.

The first breakthrough was in 1997, with Nonzee's crime drama, Dang Bireley's and Young Gangsters
Dang Bireley's and Young Gangsters
Dang Bireley's and Young Gangsters is a 1997 crime drama film about young Thai gangsters in 1950s Thailand...

(2499 Antapan Krong Muang), which earned a record box office take of more than 75 million baht. Also in 1997, Pen-Ek's crime comedy, Fun Bar Karaoke
Fun Bar Karaoke
Fun Bar Karaoke is a 1997 crime-comedy directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film had its world premiere at the 1997 Berlin Film Festival for which Pen-Ek was credited as "Tom Pannet". It screened in the festival's Forum section.-Plot:...

, was selected to play at the Berlin Film Festival – the first time in twenty years that Thai cinema had had any kind of an international presence.

Nonzee's next film, the ghost story Nang Nak
Nang Nak
Nang Nak is a romantic tragedy and horror film directed by Nonzee Nimibutr in 1999 through Buddy Film and Video Production Co. in Thailand, based on a legend. It features the life of a devoted ghost wife and the unsuspecting husband.-Plot:...

, was an even bigger success, earning 149.6 million baht – the highest grossing film at the time.

Wisit, who wrote screenplays for Dang Bireley's and Nang Nak, broke out with Tears of the Black Tiger
Tears of the Black Tiger
Tears of the Black Tiger is a 2000 Thai western film written and directed by Wisit Sasanatieng. The story of a tragic romance between Dum, a fatalistic, working-class hero, who has become an outlaw, and Rumpoey, the upper-class daughter of a provincial governor, it is equal parts homage to and...

, a super-stylised western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

homage to the Thai action films of the 1960s and '70s. It was the first film to be included on the programme at the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

.

There were also the Pang Brothers

The Pang Brothers

The Pang Brothers are Danny Pang Fat and Oxide Pang Chun , twin-brother screenwriters and film directors, born in 1965 in Hong Kong. Among their films is the hit Asian horror film, The Eye, which has spawned two sequels, as well as a Hollywood remake and a Hindi remake...

from Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, who came to Thailand to make stylish movies, starting with Bangkok Dangerous and the nod to J-Horror

J-Horror

Japanese horror, or J-Horror, is Japanese horror fiction in popular culture, noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre in light of western treatments...

, The Eye
The Eye (2002 film)
The Eye, also known as Seeing Ghosts, is a 2002 horror film directed by the Pang brothers. The film spawned two sequels by the Pang brothers, The Eye 2 and The Eye 10...

.

Thai independent film

With the New Wave directors achieving commercial and artistic success, a new crop of filmmakers has grown up outside the traditional and often restrictive Thai studio system to create experimental short films and features.

The leader of this indie movement is Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

, whose 2002

2002 in film

The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...

feature Blissfully Yours
Blissfully Yours
Blissfully Yours is a 2002 Thai romance film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...

won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

. Featuring a risque sex scene involving a Burmese

Bamar

The Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...

man and a Thai

Thai people

The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...

woman in the jungle, the movie received only limited screenings in Thailand and a Thai-released DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

of the film was censored. Apichatpong's next film, Tropical Malady
Tropical Malady
Tropical Malady is a 2004 Thai romantic psychological drama film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It is a film in two segments – the first part a romance story about two homosexual men, and the second a mysterious tale about a soldier lost in the woods, bedeviled by the spirit of a shaman...

, featuring a gay romance between an army soldier and a young country boy, was a jury-prize winner at Cannes, and it, too, only received limited screenings in Thailand.

Other indie directors include Aditya Assarat

Aditya Assarat

Aditya Assarat is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, producer and cinematographer.-Early career:...

, Anocha Suwichakornpong

Anocha Suwichakornpong

Anocha Suwichakornpong is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter and producer.-Early life:Anocha Suwichakornpong was born in Thailand 1976. She spent the 1990s living in England, where she attended universities and graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees...

, Pimpaka Towira

Pimpaka Towira

Pimpaka Towira is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter and film producer. Her films include One Night Husband and The Truth Be Told: The Cases Against Supinya Klangnarong.-Career:...

(One Night Husband
One Night Husband
One Night Husband is a 2003 Thai thriller film directed by Pimpaka Towira and co-written by Pimpaka and Prabda Yoon. It was the debut feature film for Pimpaka, an independent film director and one of the few female directors working in the Thai film industry...

), Pramote Sangsorn, Thunska Pansittivorakul

Thunska Pansittivorakul

Thunska Pansittivorakul , born October 22, 1973, is a Thai independent film director.-Biography:Thunska Pansittivorakul was born in Bangkok in 1973. He graduated from the Department of Art Education, Faculty of Education of Chulalongkorn University. He used to be a columnist of many magazines...

and Sompot Chidgasornpongse.

Censorship

All films, VCD

VCD

VCD is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below:* VCD Athletic, semi-professional football team* Video CD* Voice command device* Value change dump * Vocal cord dysfunction* Visual Communication and Design...

s and DVDs are placed under scrutiny of the Censorship Board prior to public release, as stipulated by the Film Act of 1930, which remains in effect .

The first board of censor

Censorship

thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...

s included both men and women and was drawn from the ranks of aristocracy, the civil service and the police. Each film passed by the censors had to include a stamp on each reel, and each item of printed advertising had to contain the stamp, too. The National Police was responsible for screening films and videos until September 2005, when the government's Ministry of Culture took over the function. Every VCD and DVD sold for home viewing must bear a stamp that it has passed the Censorship Board.

On some VCDs and DVDs produced in Thailand, the censors sometimes take a hard line against depictions of nudity

Nudity

Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...

, sex

Sex

In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...

, smoking

Tobacco smoking

Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...

, the presence of alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

and guns

Güns

Güns or Guens may refer to:* Kőszeg, Hungary * Kőszeg Mountains, Hungary * Akiva Güns , birth name of Akiva Eger, a Hungarian-Polish rabbi- See also :* Guns * Gün, a surname...

being pointed at people, images that are forbidden on broadcast television. In other instances, violent acts might pass through uncut, but sex and nudity will be edited out.

Before the digital

Digital

A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...

age, scissors and petroleum jelly

Petroleum jelly

Petroleum jelly, petrolatum, white petrolatum or soft paraffin, CAS number 8009-03-8, is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons , originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties...

were the tools of the trade for censors. Today the offending images are blurred out electronically. The effect of pixelization

Pixelization

Pixelization is a video- and image-editing technique in which an image is blurred by displaying part or all of it at a markedly lower resolution. It is primarily used for censorship...

is so pervasive that the practice has been satirised in films, including 2004

2004 in film

's action comedy, Jaew or M.A.I.D., as well as the zombie

Zombie

Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...

comedy, SARS Wars
SARS Wars
SARS Wars is a 2004 Thai horror-comedy directed and co-written by Taweewat Wantha....

.

Imported DVDs are generally not altered by the Thai authorities, though the Ministry of Culture's watchdogs do ban items, or at least strongly encourage retailers to not carry them. From the time the Ministry of Culture took over the censorship board until March 2006, about 40 VCD or DVD titles were banned, though a list of the banned items was not made available.

In 2007, the independent film, Syndromes and a Century
Syndromes and a Century
Syndromes and a Century is a 2006 Thai drama film written and directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The film was among the works commissioned for Peter Sellars' New Crowned Hope festival in Vienna to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...

was to undergo cuts before public release in Thailand. The censors objected to depictions of a Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

monk playing guitar, a physician kissing his girlfriend, some doctors drinking whisky in a hospital conference room and some monks playing with a remote-control flying saucer. Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

would not make the cuts and withdrew his film from release in Thailand. It had previously screened in other countries uncut.

After the controversy over Syndromes and a Century, the Free Thai Cinema Movement started to gain momentum in late April 2007. A petition signed by artists and scholars was submitted to the National Legislative Assembly

National Assembly of Thailand

The National Assembly of Thailand or the Parliament of Thailand is the legislative branch of the government of Thailand. The National Assembly of Thailand is a bicameral body, consisting of two chambers: the upper house, , and the lower house,...

, which was considering a new motion picture ratings system. The proposed system, passed by the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly

National Assembly of Thailand

proved controversial as well, as it would not imposes ratings structure but also keeps censorship in place.

Action

Action films are a predominant genre of Thai film. During the 1960s and '70s, when Mitr Chaibancha

Mitr Chaibancha

Mitr Chaibancha was a Thai film actor who made 266 films from 1956 to 1970....

and Sombat Metanee

Sombat Metanee

Sombat Metanee is a Thai actor and film director. At one time he held the Guinness World Record for most film appearances . By his own count, he's made more than 2,000 films and television shows, including lakorns...

were the leading action heroes, hundreds of hard-hitting, explosive features were made.

In recent years, the martial arts films starring Tony Jaa

Tony Jaa

Tatchakorn Yeerum , formerly Panom Yeerum , better known in the West as Tony Jaa, in Thailand as Jaa Panom, is a Thai martial artist, actor, choreographer, stuntman, director, and monk...

, Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior
Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior
Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior , also known in the United States as Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior is a 2003 Thai action film. It was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, featured stunt choreography by Panna Rittikrai and starred Tony Jaa. Ong-Bak proved to be Jaa's breakout film, with the actor hailed...

and Tom-Yum-Goong
Tom-Yum-Goong
Tom-Yum-Goong Tom-Yum-Goong Tom-Yum-Goong (Thai: ต้มยำกุ้ง, is a 2005 Thai Martial arts Action film starring Tony Jaa. The film was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, who also directed Jaa's prior breakout film Ong-Bak. As with Ong-Bak, the fights were choreographed by Jaa and his mentor, Panna Rittikrai...

, have put Thai action films on the international map. Kerd ma lui
Kerd ma lui
Born to Fight is a 2004 Thai action film directed by Panna Rittikrai. It followed Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, on which Panna served as martial arts choreographer, and featured more of his "no strings attached" stuntwork. Many of the actors in Born to Fight were Thai national athletes...

(Born to Fight) is in the same vein, and gives more exposure to action choreographer Panna Rittikrai

Panna Rittikrai

Panna Rittikrai is a Thai martial arts action choreographer, film director, screenwriter and actor...

, who toiled for decades making low-budget, direct-to-video

Direct-to-video

Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...

action films featuring dangerous stunt choreography.

The culture of Thailand's B-movie stuntmen is further examined in the 2005 documentary, Crying Tigers, by Santi Taepanich.

Action comedies have also proven to be popular, including 2001's Killer Tattoo
Killer Tattoo
Killer Tattoo is a 2001 Thai action-comedy film written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak...

by Yuthlert Sippapak

Yuthlert Sippapak

Yuthlert Sippapak is a Thai film director, screenwriter and producer. He's best known for his genre-blending films Killer Tattoo and Buppah Rahtree .-Biography:...

, who cast well-known Thai comedians, including Petchtai Wongkamlao

Petchtai Wongkamlao

Petchtai Wongkamlao, , is a Thai comedian, actor and film director. He is best known in Thailand by his stage name, Mum Jokmok ; and is a popular Thai television personality...

and Suthep Po-ngam

Suthep Po-ngam

Suthep Po-ngam , also known by his stage name Thep Po-ngam, is a Thai comedian, actor, film director and screenwriter. He played the leader of a gang of inept hitmen in Killer Tattoo...

, in roles as bumbling hitmen.

Animation

Thai animation got underway after the Second World War, when artist Sanae Klaikluen was asked by the Thai government to make a short animated cartoon

Animated cartoon

An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...

that instructed Thai citizens to wear hats and farmers to wear boots.

Sanae in turn influenced Payut Ngaokrachang

Payut Ngaokrachang

Payut Ngaokrachang was a Thai cartoonist and animator. He created Thai cinema's first cel-animated feature film, The Adventure of Sudsakorn.-Early life:...

, who made a 1955 short about a traffic cop called Haed Mahasajan. Payut went on to make Thailand's first and only cel-animated feature film, The Adventure of Sudsakorn
The Adventure of Sudsakorn
The Adventure of Sudsakorn is a 1979 Thai animated fantasy film. The only cel-animated feature film ever made in Thailand, it was directed by Payut Ngaokrachang. It was released in Thailand on Songkran Day, April 13, 1979...

, in 1979.

Because of the labour-intensive work involved with animation, it was cheaper for studios to make live-action films, so animation was eschewed. But in recent years, Thailand's technology community has sought to make the country a hub for computer animation

Computer animation

Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....

, with many animated television shows, commercials and video games being created in Thailand.

In 2006, Thailand's first computer-animated feature film was released, Khan Khluay, about King Naresuan the Great

Naresuan

Somdet Phra Naresuan Maharat or Somdet Phra Sanphet II was the King of the Ayutthaya kingdom from 1590 until his death in 1605. Naresuan was one of Siam's most revered monarchs as he was known for his campaigns to free Siam from Burmese rule...

's war elephant. It is directed by Kompin Kemgunerd, on such Disney

Walt Disney Feature Animation

Walt Disney Animation Studios is an American animation studio headquartered in Burbank, California. The studio, founded in 1923 as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio by brothers Walt and Roy Disney, is the oldest subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...

features as Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a 2001 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. Written by Tab Murphy, directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, and produced by Don Hahn, it is the first science fiction film in the Disney animated features canon and the 41st overall. The film...

and Tarzan
Tarzan (1999 film)
Tarzan is a 1999 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 18, 1999...

and Blue Sky Studios

Blue Sky Studios

Blue Sky Studios is an American CGI-animation studio which specializes in high-resolution, computer-generated character animation and rendering. It is owned by 20th Century Fox and located in Greenwich, Connecticut...

' Ice Age
Ice Age (film)
Ice Age is a 2002 American computer-animated film created by Blue Sky Studios and released by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Carlos Saldanha and Chris Wedge from a story by Michael J. Wilson. The story follows three Paleolithical mammals attempting to return a lost human baby to its parents...

. Although the work is being done on computers, Kompin has faced many of the same difficulties in funding and human resources that Payut faced.

Comedies

No matter what the genre of Thai film, most films – be they action, horror or romantic dramas, have some element of comedy.

One of the classic comedies from the 1960s is called Ngern Ngern Ngern (Money, Money, Money). It starred Mitr Chaibancha

Mitr Chaibancha

Mitr Chaibancha was a Thai film actor who made 266 films from 1956 to 1970....

and Petchara Chaowarat

Petchara Chaowarat

Petchara Chaowarat is a Thai film actress who starred in around 300 films from 1961 to 1979. An icon of the "Golden Age" of Thai cinema, she was known for her round, pool-like eyes and elaborate hairstyles.Her first film and starring role was in Banthuk Rak Pimchawee , in 1961...

in a story about the nephew of an unscrupulous moneylender who takes sides with a group of debtors against his uncle. The remake of the film was done in the 1980s.

In 2005, the comedy Luang phii theng (The Holy Man) starring comedian Pongsak Pongsuwan

Pongsak Pongsuwan

Pongsak Pongsuwan is a Thai comedian and actor. He is best known in Thailand by his stage name, Theng Therdtherng .A popular comedian in Thai nightclubs and on television, Theng made his feature-film debut in Killer Tattoo, a 2001 action-comedy that was the directorial debut for Yuthlert Sippapak...

as a street hood who poses as a Buddhist monk, was one of the top films at the domestic box office.

Crime

Most of the films by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

have been crime film

Crime film

Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...

s, from his debut feature 1997's Fun Bar Karaoke
Fun Bar Karaoke
Fun Bar Karaoke is a 1997 crime-comedy directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film had its world premiere at the 1997 Berlin Film Festival for which Pen-Ek was credited as "Tom Pannet". It screened in the festival's Forum section.-Plot:...

to 2006's Invisible Waves
Invisible Waves
Invisible Waves is a 2006 crime film by Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, with screenplay by Prabda Yoon, cinematography by Christopher Doyle, and starring Tadanobu Asano – all people that Pen-Ek had worked with on his previous film, Last Life in the Universe...

.

A true-crime film, 2003's Macabre Case of Prom Pirom (Keunbab prompiram) by veteran director Manop Udomdej, about a 1977 murder-rape of a young woman in a rural village was controversial because the village where the case took place did not want the incident revisited. The film played at many overseas festivals, including the New York Asian Film Festival

New York Asian Film Festival

The New York Asian Film Festival was first held in 2002, growing out of the previous year's New York Korean Film Festival...

.

Another true-crime case about a cannibalistic serial killer in 1946 Bangkok

Bangkok

was depicted in the 2004 film Zee-Oui.

Gay films

Kathoey

Kathoey or katoey is a male-to-female transgender person or an effeminate gay male in Thailand. Related phrases include sao praphet song , or phet thi sam . The word kathoey is thought to be of Khmer origin...

(transsexual/transvestite) or gays are often featured as comic relief

Comic relief

Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...

or villains in mainstream Thai films, but there have been a number of films that make gays and kathoey the main characters. Transvestites and gays are also known as "tdoot", originated from the title of the 1982 American film Tootsie
Tootsie
Tootsie is a 1982 American comedy film that tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to go to extreme lengths to land a job. The movie stars Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, with a supporting cast that includes Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman,...

.
One of the first was Youngyooth Thongkonthun's Iron Ladies
The Iron Ladies (film)
The Iron Ladies is a Thai comedy film from the year 2000. The movie follows the true events of a men's volleyball team, composed mainly of gay and kathoey athletes...

, or Satree lek, based on a true story about a transsexual/transvestite gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

men's volleyball team that won a national championship in 1996. It was a huge hit on the international festival circuit. The 2000 comedy spawned a sequel in 2003, The Iron Ladies 2 (Satree lek 2).
More loosely based on a true incident was the 2002 film Saving Private Tootsie
Saving Private Tootsie
Saving Private Tootsie is a Thai film. The film is directed by Kittikorn Liawsirikul.In the film several katoeys survive a plane crash in the jungle of an neighbouring country and several soldiers come to rescue them.The film was sold for remake rights in the United States.-External links:* ...

, which tells the story of a group of gay and kathoey entertainers who are lost in rebel-held jungle territory after their plane crashes. A squad from the Thai army, led by a gruff, homophobic sergeant played by veteran actor Sorapong Chatree

Sorapong Chatree

Sorapong Chatree is a Thai film actor. He has frequently starred in the films of Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, as well as in Cherd Songsri's classic romance, Plae Kao....

, goes to the rescue.
And the life of transgender

Transgender

Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....

Muay Thai

Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...

champion Parinya Kiatbusaba (or Nong Tum) is related in 2003's Beautiful Boxer
Beautiful Boxer
Beautiful Boxer is a Thai biographical sports film by Singapore-based director Ekachai Uekrongtham. It tells the life story of Nong Thoom, a famous kathoey , Muay Thai fighter, actress and model...

, directed by Ekachai Uekorngtham. Unlike The Iron Ladies, Beautiful Boxer was less comedic in tone.
The 2003 film Tropical Malady
Tropical Malady
Tropical Malady is a 2004 Thai romantic psychological drama film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It is a film in two segments – the first part a romance story about two homosexual men, and the second a mysterious tale about a soldier lost in the woods, bedeviled by the spirit of a shaman...

, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

, depicts a romance between a Thai army soldier and a local small-town boy. The narrative of the film then abruptly shifts in the middle to relate a folk tale about a tiger shaman, with the soldier alone in the jungle, haunted by the tiger-shaman's spirit. The film won a jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

.
Apichatpong also co-directed the low-budget digital movie, The Adventure of Iron Pussy
The Adventure of Iron Pussy
The Adventure of Iron Pussy is a 2003 Thai musical-action-comedy film written and directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Michael Shaowanasai and starring Shaowanasai as the main protagonist – a transvestite Thai secret agent whose alter ego is a gay male 7-Eleven clerk...

, with artist Michael Shaowanasai

Michael Shaowanasai

Michael Shaowanasai, , is a Thai-American artist and actor who lives in Bangkok. His works includes performance art, photography, video, film and installations....

, who portrays a transvestite secret agent. A musical, the movie also was an homage and a parody of the Thai films of the 1960s and '70s, with Shaowansai basing his character on the actress Petchara Chaowarat

Petchara Chaowarat

.
In 2005, Thai film Rainbow Boys, depicting a contemporary gay relationship, produced by Vitaya Saeng-aroon, saw a limited-release screening. Vitaya also produced the comedy-drama Club M2, set in a gay sauna. And in 2006 there was The Last Song, a remake of a 1985 Thai film about a transsexual cabaret dancer and her struggle to find acceptance and true love.
Me ... Myself
Me ... Myself
Me ... Myself or Khaw hai rak jong jaroen) is a 2007 Thai romantic drama film directed by Pongpat Wachirabunjong. Ananda Everingham stars as a gay male dancer in a transvestite cabaret who suffers amnesia after being struck by a car.-Plot:...

( or Kaw hai rak jong jaroen) is a 2007 Thai romantic drama film written and directed by actor-singer Pongpat Wachirabunjong. In the film, Ananda Everingham

Ananda Everingham

Ananda Everingham is a Laotian-Australian film actor who was born in Thailand. Working primarily in Thai films, he is best known for his lead role in the 2004 horror film, Shutter.-Biography:...

stars as a male dancer in a transvestite cabaret who must re-find himself after being struck by a car and suffering from amnesia

Amnesia

Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...

.
Another 2007 film, Bangkok Love Story
Bangkok Love Story
Bangkok Love Story is a 2007 Thai film written and directed by Poj Arnon. A gay romantic crime action drama, it is the story of a man who falls in love with a gunman assigned to kill him.-Plot:...

, directed by Poj Arnon

Poj Arnon

-Career:Poj began his career in the 1980s as an advertising sales manager for Ter-Kab-Chan Magazine, eventually becoming the magazine's chief editor. His work on the magazine enabled him to scout out and groom many of the Thai teen movie stars of the era....

, was critically hailed as a departure from the stereotyped view of homosexuals as transvestites and transsexuals.
Gay Thai independent film producer similarly praised the film, saying director Poj Arnon

Poj Arnon

was "brave enough to shake society up".

Historical epics

Another staple of the Thai film industry, among the biggest was 2003's The Legend of Suriyothai
The Legend of Suriyothai
The Legend of Suriyothai is a 2001 Thai film directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol, telling the story of Queen Suriyothai, who died in a battle in 1548 against Burmese invaders...

by Chatrichalerm Yukol

Chatrichalerm Yukol

, who had done research for many years to write the screenplay. With a huge budget, support from the royal family and the cooperation across the nation's film industry, this film is considered a true "national film". A followup epic is 2007's King Naresuan
King Naresuan (film)
The Legend of King Naresuan is a Thai biographical historical drama film about King Naresuan the Great, who ruled Siam from 1590 until his death in 1605....

, about 16th century ruler King Naresuan the Great

Naresuan

, which topped the budget for Suriyothai, and was shown in two parts.

Other epics include Bang Rajan
Bang Rajan (film)
Bang Rajan is a 2000 Thai historical drama film depicting the battles of the Siamese village of Bang Rajan against the Burmese invaders in 1767, as remembered in popular Thai culture...

by Thanit Jitnukul, who has made several other historical battle epics, including Sema: Warrior of Ayutthaya and Kun Pan: Legend of the Warlord.

More recent history is depicted in The Overture
The Overture
The Overture is a 2004 Thai musical-drama film. A fictionalised account based on the life story of Thai palace musician Luang Pradit Phairoh , it follows the life of a Thai classical musician from the late 19th century to the 1940s...

, covering the life of a palace musician from the late 19th century to the 1940s, and The Tin Mine
The Tin Mine
The Tin Mine is a 2005 Thai biographical drama film directed by Jira Maligool. It is adapted from short stories by Ajin Panjapan and his semi-autobiographical account of growing up in a mining camp in southern Thailand during the post-World War II years...

, set at a mine in southern Thailand in the 1950s.

Horror

Nonzee Nimibutr

's Nang Nak
Nang Nak
Nang Nak is a romantic tragedy and horror film directed by Nonzee Nimibutr in 1999 through Buddy Film and Video Production Co. in Thailand, based on a legend. It features the life of a devoted ghost wife and the unsuspecting husband.-Plot:...

in 1999 was a ghost story that had actually been depicted dozens of times throughout the history of Thai cinema and television. But it gave rise to a new crop of Thai horror and suspense films, including the Pang Brothers

The Pang Brothers

' The Eye
The Eye (2002 film)
The Eye, also known as Seeing Ghosts, is a 2002 horror film directed by the Pang brothers. The film spawned two sequels by the Pang brothers, The Eye 2 and The Eye 10...

, Nonzee's pan-Asian compilation Three, Bangkok Haunted
Bangkok Haunted
Bangkok Haunted is a 2001 Thai horror film compilation, directed by Oxide Pang and Pisut Praesangeam. It is a trio of ghost stories, as told by three people sitting around in a darkened Bangkok bar.-Legend of the Drum:...

, directed by Pisuth Praesaeng-Iam and Oxide Pang and the 2004 box-office smash Shutter
Shutter (Thai film)
Shutter is a 2004 Thai horror film by Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom; starring Ananda Everingham, Natthaweeranuch Thongmee, and Achita Sikamana...

by Banjong Pisonthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom

Parkpoom Wongpoom

Parkpoom Wongpoom is a Thai filmmaker and screenwriter. With Banjong Pisanthanakun, he co-directed and co-wrote the hit 2004 Thai horror film, Shutter, and the 2007 horror film, Alone.-Education and early career:...

.

Examples of slasher movies include Art of the Devil
Art of the Devil
Art of the Devil is a 2004 Thai horror film directed by Tanit Jitnukul. It has two titular sequels, Art of the Devil 2 and Art of the Devil 3 , but these films feature a different story with new characters.-Plot:...

and a 2005 sequel (Long khong), as well as Scared and Narok (Hell), also in 2005.

The horror genre also has spawned a number of genre-blending horror comedies, most notably the films of Yuthlert Sippapak

Yuthlert Sippapak

Yuthlert Sippapak is a Thai film director, screenwriter and producer. He's best known for his genre-blending films Killer Tattoo and Buppah Rahtree .-Biography:...

, Buppah Rahtree
Buppah Rahtree
Buppah Rahtree is a 2003 Thai comedy-horror film written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak. With its comic references to The Exorcist and Audition, Buppah Rahtree gained a cult following through screenings at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival and the Fantasia Festival...

(featured at the Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

) and a sequel, and Krasue Valentine
Krasue Valentine
Krasue Valentine is a 2006 Thai romance-horror film written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak. The film concerns the krasue ghost legend that is common in Southeast Asian countries.-Plot:...

. There has even been a zombie

Zombie

movie, 2004's SARS Wars
SARS Wars
SARS Wars is a 2004 Thai horror-comedy directed and co-written by Taweewat Wantha....

.

Musicals

The biggest hit musical was 1970's Monrak luk thung
Monrak luk thung
Monrak luk thung is a 1970 musical-comedy-romance film directed by Rungsri Tassanapuk and starring Mitr Chaibancha and Petchara Chaowarat. Released on May 15, 1970, the film was an enormous hit, playing in Thai cinemas for six months....

(Magical Love in the Countryside), starring Mitr Chaibancha

Mitr Chaibancha

Mitr Chaibancha was a Thai film actor who made 266 films from 1956 to 1970....

and Petchara Chaowarat

Petchara Chaowarat

. It was hugely popular, playing in cinemas for six months.

As a result, a whole genre of luk thung

Luk thung

Luk Thung refers to the most popular form of a style of music found in Thailand. The term is short for pleng luk thung .Luk Thung songs typically reflect the hardship of everyday life among the rural poor. Tempos tend to be slow, and singers use an expressive singing style with a lot of vibrato...

musicals, rhapsodizing Thailand's rural life in Isan

Isan

was created. Another example was Dokdin Kanyamarn's 1971 musical comedy, Ai Tui (Mr. Tui), which starred Sombat Metanee

Sombat Metanee

and Petchara.

In 2001 there were two movies that celebrated luk thung, the singing-contest comedy Monpleng Luk Thung FM (Hoedown Showdown) and Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

's, Monrak Transistor
Monrak Transistor
Monrak Transistor is a 2001 Thai film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. Blending several genres, including comedy, romance, musical and crime, it is the story of a young man named Pan and his odyssey after he goes AWOL from the army and tries to make it as a luk thung singing star.-Plot:The story...

, which paid tribute to the music of Suraphol Sombatcharoen

Suraphol Sombatcharoen

Suraphol Sombatcharoen was a Thai luk thung singer. Dubbed the "King of Luk Thung", he was one of the first major stars of Thailand's own country music genre...

. And in 2005, comedian-actor-director Petchtai Wongkamlao

Petchtai Wongkamlao

Petchtai Wongkamlao, , is a Thai comedian, actor and film director. He is best known in Thailand by his stage name, Mum Jokmok ; and is a popular Thai television personality...

wrote, directed and starred in Yam Yasothon
Yam Yasothon
Yam Yasothon is a 2005 Thai musical romantic comedy film, written, directed by and starring Petchtai Wongkamlao.-Plot:...

, a colourful homage to the 1970s musicals. It was one of top films at the Thai box office.

Romance

Weepy, sentimental romance stories are audience favorites. Historically, Cherd Songsri

Cherd Songsri

Cherd Songsri was a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A maker of period films that sought to introduce international audiences to his vision of Thai culture, his best-known work is the 1977 romance film Plae Kao , which earned more box-office receipts than any Thai film before it...

's 1970s film Plae Chow (The Old Scar) is a classic tale of star-crossed lovers, and was one of the first Thai films to be a success internationally.

During the 1980s, Baan Sai Thong based on the novel Kor Surangkanang was a popular hit. More recent examples include The Letter: Jod Mai Rak
The Letter: Jod Mai Rak
The Letter is a 2004 romance-drama film directed by Pa-oon Chantarasiri. It is a remake of Pyeon ji, a 1997 South Korean film by director Lee Jeong-Kuk.-Plot:...

, in which tissues were actually handed out at the cinemas.

Childhood romance was a hit with 2003's Fan Chan
Fan Chan
Fan Chan is a 2003 Thai romantic film offering a nostalgic look back at the childhood friendship of a boy and girl growing up in a small town in Thailand in the 1980s. It was the debut film by six young screenwriter-directors, Vitcha Gojiew, Songyos Sugmakanan, Nithiwat Tharathorn, Witthaya...

, which was made by six directors. One of the six, Komgrit Treewimol, went on to make the college-age romance, Dear Dakanda, a hit in 2005, but took three years to completely write, cast, film, and tweak.

Teen

As a genre, teen films arose in the 1970s, with director Piak Poster's Wai Ounlawon, about a young man whose courtship of a teenaged girl puts him at odds with the girl's irascible father. That young couple, portrayed by the original actors, were revisited 30 years later as embattled parents in the 2005 sequel, Wai Ounlawon 4 (Oops ... There's Dad).

Music was an important component of the teen films, with a musical interlude featured prominently in the film and a soundtrack album that would be a popular hit. This was the case with both Wai Ounlawon and its recent sequel.

Another noteworthy film of this genre is Fake
Fake (film)
Fake is a 2003 Thai romance-drama film, directed by Thanakorn Pongsuwan. It starred Leo Putt , Ray MacDonald, Tah Barby and Patcharapha Chaichua...

, which was the debut film by Thanakorn Pongsuwan. The film's modern, visual style offers a sharp-focus snapshot of the city of Bangkok and a plausible account of the mating game in its current forms.

Short films

In the burgeoning independent film movement, many short films are being produced and featured in festivals. Graceland, a film by Anocha Suwichakornpong

Anocha Suwichakornpong

, about an Elvis impersonator

Elvis impersonator

An Elvis impersonator is someone who impersonates or copies famed American musician Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators can work all over the world as entertainers, and such tribute acts are in great demand due to the unique iconic status of Elvis...

, was featured in the Cinéfondation

Cinéfondation

La Cinéfondation is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes Film Festival, created to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers....

competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival

2006 Cannes Film Festival

The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....

. It was the first Thai short film selected at Cannes. Short-film festivals in Thailand include the Thai Short Film and Video Festival

Thai Short Film and Video Festival

The Thai Short Film and Video Festival is an annual film festival held in Bangkok, Thailand, devoted to short film, student film, animation, experimental film and documentary films.Established in 1997, it is organised by the Thai Film Foundation....

by the Thai Film Foundation and the Fat Film Festival by Fat Radio. Thai short-film programs are also put together for the Bangkok International Film Festival

Bangkok International Film Festival

The Bangkok International Film Festival is an international film festival held annually in Bangkok, Thailand, since 2003. In addition to film screenings, seminars, gala events and the Golden Kinnaree Awards.-First years:...

and the World Film Festival of Bangkok

World Film Festival of Bangkok

The World Film Festival of Bangkok is an annual international film festival held between October & November in Bangkok, Thailand.The 8th Annual World Film Festival of Bangkok will be held between 5 - 14 November, 2010.-History:...

.

Pen-ek Ratanaruang

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

's Twelve Twenty (30 min) was made as part of the Digital Short Films by Three Filmmakers project for the 2006 Jeonju International Film Festival

Jeonju International Film Festival

The Jeonju International Film Festival has been held annually since 2000 in Jeonju, South Korea, focusing on digital, independent and art films.-2000:*April 28-May 4: 184 films from 21 countries...

. The film stars Ananda Everingham

Ananda Everingham

Ananda Everingham is a Laotian-Australian film actor who was born in Thailand. Working primarily in Thai films, he is best known for his lead role in the 2004 horror film, Shutter.-Biography:...

, has an appearance by American bilingual actor Erich Fleshman, and was shot by Christopher Doyle

Christopher Doyle

Christopher Doyle is a cinematographer. He has won the AFI Award for cinematography, the Cannes Technical Grand Prize, Golden Osella, the Golden Horse awards , and Hong Kong Film Award . Doyle is an affiliate of the Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers.-Biography:Doyle was born in Sydney,...

. The short film is shot in a minimalist style and slowly moves along the encounters of a man and a woman on a long-haul flight, where they spend the next 12 hours and 20 minutes reading, drinking, eating and watching movies and sleeping by each other's side without talking.

In 2007 , Digital Forum by Thai Film Foundation,Festival for a digital long-film

Film festivals

The Thai Short Film and Video Festival

Thai Short Film and Video Festival

was first held in 1997. The Bangkok Film Festival was started in 1998, and was eventually supplanted by the Bangkok International Film Festival

Bangkok International Film Festival

, which started in 2002 and is organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The World Film Festival of Bangkok

World Film Festival of Bangkok

, sponsored by the Nation Multimedia Group, began in 2003, and it is held annually in October.

In 2007, Digital Forum was begun in Bangkok as an outgrowth of the Thai Short Film and Video Festival, to showcase feature-length independent digital-video productions. Also in 2007, the inaugural Phuket Film Festival was held. In 2008, the annual Phangan Film Festival (PFF) was established on Koh Phangan, with a focus on spiritual and environmental indie films from around the world. In 2009, PFF's sister event, the annual Samui Film Festival (SFF) took place for the first time on Koh Samui.

Film awards

The first film awards in Thailand were the "Golden Doll" awards given by Tukata Tong magazine. The awards were first given in 1957. The statuette at first was a Thai classical dancer and later it was modelled after Phra Suratsawadi, the Thai-Hindu

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

god of art. King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...

handed out the awards in 1965 and '66. The Tukata Tong awards were discontinued after eight years due to organizational problems, but were revived in 1974 by the Association of Entertainment News Journalists of Thailand.

The Thailand National Film Association Awards

Thailand National Film Association Awards

The Thailand National Film Association Awards is a Thai film industry ceremony held annually by the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand...

are organised by the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand. The name of the award is the Subhanahongsa Award.

There is also the Bangkok Critics Assembly, which gives awards chosen by a panel of around 20 members, the Starpics Awards, given by Starpics magazine and the Kom Chad Luek Awards, given by Kom Chad Luek
Kom Chad Luek
Kom Chad Luek is a mass-circulation Thai-language daily newspaper launched in 2001 and published in Bangkok, Thailand by the Nation Multimedia Group...

newspaper.

Actors

Mitr Chaibancha
Mitr Chaibancha
Mitr Chaibancha was a Thai film actor who made 266 films from 1956 to 1970....

– Legendary Thai leading man of the 1960s and '70s, died while filming a stunt.
Sombat Metanee
Sombat Metanee
Sombat Metanee is a Thai actor and film director. At one time he held the Guinness World Record for most film appearances . By his own count, he's made more than 2,000 films and television shows, including lakorns...

– Record-breaking Thai leading man from the 1960s and '70s.
Tony Jaa
Tony Jaa
Tatchakorn Yeerum , formerly Panom Yeerum , better known in the West as Tony Jaa, in Thailand as Jaa Panom, is a Thai martial artist, actor, choreographer, stuntman, director, and monk...

– Contemporary Thai action star, known for his hard-hitting stuntwork in Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior
Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior
Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior , also known in the United States as Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior is a 2003 Thai action film. It was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, featured stunt choreography by Panna Rittikrai and starred Tony Jaa. Ong-Bak proved to be Jaa's breakout film, with the actor hailed...

and Tom-Yum-Goong
Tom-Yum-Goong
Tom-Yum-Goong Tom-Yum-Goong Tom-Yum-Goong (Thai: ต้มยำกุ้ง, is a 2005 Thai Martial arts Action film starring Tony Jaa. The film was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, who also directed Jaa's prior breakout film Ong-Bak. As with Ong-Bak, the fights were choreographed by Jaa and his mentor, Panna Rittikrai...

.
Mario Maurer
Mario Maurer
Mario Maurer is a Thai of German and Chinese descent model and actor. He is best known for his lead roles in the 2007 film, The Love of Siam and the 2010 sleeper hit, First Love .-Biography:...

– Young actor of Chinese and German lineage, widely-known in Asia for his performance in The Love of Siam
The Love of Siam
The Love of Siam is a 2007 Thai gay-themed romantic-drama film written and directed by Chookiat Sakveerakul. A multi-layered family drama, a groundbreaking element of the story is a gay romance between two teenage boys....

Actresses

Petchara Chaowarat
Petchara Chaowarat
Petchara Chaowarat is a Thai film actress who starred in around 300 films from 1961 to 1979. An icon of the "Golden Age" of Thai cinema, she was known for her round, pool-like eyes and elaborate hairstyles.Her first film and starring role was in Banthuk Rak Pimchawee , in 1961...

– Iconic leading lady of Thai films in the 1960s and '70s.

Directors

Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. His feature films include Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, winner of the prestigious 2010 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or prize; Tropical Malady, which won a jury prize at the 2004...

– Avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

director, won three prizes at Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

, including Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...

in 2010.
Chatrichalerm Yukol
Chatrichalerm Yukol
His Serene Highness Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol is a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A prolific director since the 1970s, among his films is the 2001 historical epic, The Legend of Suriyothai. A member of the Thai royal family, his official royal title is Mom Chao, or M.C., the...

– Veteran director, maker of The Legend of Suriyothai
The Legend of Suriyothai
The Legend of Suriyothai is a 2001 Thai film directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol, telling the story of Queen Suriyothai, who died in a battle in 1548 against Burmese invaders...

as well as socially conscious films from the 1970s to the '90s.
Cherd Songsri
Cherd Songsri
Cherd Songsri was a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A maker of period films that sought to introduce international audiences to his vision of Thai culture, his best-known work is the 1977 romance film Plae Kao , which earned more box-office receipts than any Thai film before it...

– One of the first Thai directors to make films with international audiences in mind.
Nonzee Nimibutr
Nonzee Nimibutr
Nonzee Nimibutr is a Thai film director, film producer and screenwriter. Best known for his ghost thriller, Nang Nak, he is generally credited as the leader among a "New Wave" of Thai filmmakers that also includes Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong...

– Among the first directors in the late 1990s to re-energize the Thai film industry.
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang is a Thai film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his arthouse work, Last Life in the Universe, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul...

– His films are frequently shown at major international film festivals.
Rattana Pestonji
Rattana Pestonji
Rattana Pestonji was a Thai film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer and is regarded as the father of contemporary Thai film. Although his filmography was brief, his films placed Thai cinema on the world stage. He also pushed for innovations, and was one of the first Thai...

– Pioneering director, was the first Thai director to have a films in an international competition.
Wisit Sasanatieng
Wisit Sasanatieng
Wisit Sasanatieng is a Thai film director and screenwriter of Chinese descent...

– Director of Tears of the Black Tiger
Tears of the Black Tiger
Tears of the Black Tiger is a 2000 Thai western film written and directed by Wisit Sasanatieng. The story of a tragic romance between Dum, a fatalistic, working-class hero, who has become an outlaw, and Rumpoey, the upper-class daughter of a provincial governor, it is equal parts homage to and...

and Citizen Dog
Mah Nakorn
Citizen Dog is a 2004 Thai romance film, directed by Wisit Sasanatieng and based on a story by Wisit's wife, Koynuch , which was illustrated by him...

; also a noted screenwriter.

Producers

Adirek Wattaleela – Often credited simply as "Uncle", he headed the now-shuttered Film Bangkok production house, which was behind such hits as Bangkok Dangerous and Tears of the Black Tiger
Tears of the Black Tiger
Tears of the Black Tiger is a 2000 Thai western film written and directed by Wisit Sasanatieng. The story of a tragic romance between Dum, a fatalistic, working-class hero, who has become an outlaw, and Rumpoey, the upper-class daughter of a provincial governor, it is equal parts homage to and...

. He's also a director, screenwriter,editors, and comic actor.
Duangkamol Limcharoen – Working with Nonzee Nimibutr
Nonzee Nimibutr
Nonzee Nimibutr is a Thai film director, film producer and screenwriter. Best known for his ghost thriller, Nang Nak, he is generally credited as the leader among a "New Wave" of Thai filmmakers that also includes Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong...

and Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang is a Thai film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his arthouse work, Last Life in the Universe, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul...

, she founded the Cinemasia production marque and helped foster a trend of pan-Asian film production in Thailand. She died in 2003.
Mingmongkol Sonakul
Mingmongkol Sonakul
Mom Luang Mingmongkol Sonakul is a Thai film producer and independent film director. As the head of her own production company, Dedicate Ltd., she has produced films by Apichatpong Weerasethakul ; Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, including Invisible Waves; Pimpaka Towira's One Night Husband and The Tin Mine by...

– Independent director and producer; has handled Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's works including Invisible Waves and Twenty Twenty. She is also worked closely with GTH
GMM Grammy
GMM Grammy Public Company Limited is the largest media conglomerate entertainment company in Thailand. It claims a 70% share of the Thai entertainment industry. Artists on Grammy include Bird McIntyre and Loso...

on such projects as Alone
Alone (2007 film)
Alone is a 2007 Thai horror film directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom, a duo whose debut film, Shutter, was a box-office smash in Thailand and other Asian countries. Alone stars Thai-German pop singer Marsha Wattanapanich in her first film role in 15 years.-Plot:Pim was born as...

.
Prachya Pinkaew
Prachya Pinkaew
Prachya Pinkaew is a Thai film director, film producer and screenwriter. His films include Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior and Tom-Yum-Goong, both martial arts films starring Tony Jaa.-Biography:...

– Also the director of Ong-Bak and Tom-Yum-Goong, his Baa Ram Ewe production marque is seen on many Thai films.
Somsak Techaratanaprasert – Chief executive of Sahamongkol Film International
Sahamongkol Film International
Sahamongkol Film International Co. Ltd. is a Thai motion picture production and distribution company. It is the leading movie company in Thailand, ahead of GMM Grammy's GMM Tai Hub, Five Star Production and...

, he's been behind many hit films, including Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior
Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior
Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior , also known in the United States as Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior is a 2003 Thai action film. It was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, featured stunt choreography by Panna Rittikrai and starred Tony Jaa. Ong-Bak proved to be Jaa's breakout film, with the actor hailed...

.

Screenwriters

Kongdej Jaturanrasamee
Kongdej Jaturanrasamee
Kongdej Jaturanrasamee is a Thai screenwriter and film director. His screenplays include The Letter, Tom-Yum-Goong, Noo Hin: The Movie and Me ... Myself. His own films include Sayew and Midnight My Love.-Education, early career:...

– Writer on such films as Tom-Yum-Goong
Tom-Yum-Goong
Tom-Yum-Goong Tom-Yum-Goong Tom-Yum-Goong (Thai: ต้มยำกุ้ง, is a 2005 Thai Martial arts Action film starring Tony Jaa. The film was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, who also directed Jaa's prior breakout film Ong-Bak. As with Ong-Bak, the fights were choreographed by Jaa and his mentor, Panna Rittikrai...

and Noo Hin: The Movie
Noo Hin: The Movie
Noo Hin: The Movie is a 2006 comedy film based on a popular Thai comic book and graphic novel series about a plucky domestic worker from Isan who's working for an upper class family in Bangkok...

.
Prabda Yoon
Prabda Yoon
Prabda Yoon is a Thai writer, novelist, artist, graphic designer, magazine editor, screenwriter and translator. He is the son of Nation Multimedia Group executive and editor Suthichai Yoon....

– Worked with Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang is a Thai film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his arthouse work, Last Life in the Universe, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul...

on Last Life in the Universe
Last Life in the Universe
Last Life in the Universe is a 2003 Thai film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film is notable for being trilingual; the two main characters flit from Thai to Japanese to English as their vocabulary requires...

and Invisible Waves
Invisible Waves
Invisible Waves is a 2006 crime film by Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, with screenplay by Prabda Yoon, cinematography by Christopher Doyle, and starring Tadanobu Asano – all people that Pen-Ek had worked with on his previous film, Last Life in the Universe...

.

Film editors

Patamanadda Yukol – The eldest daughter of Chatrichalerm Yukol
Chatrichalerm Yukol
His Serene Highness Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol is a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A prolific director since the 1970s, among his films is the 2001 historical epic, The Legend of Suriyothai. A member of the Thai royal family, his official royal title is Mom Chao, or M.C., the...

, she worked with her father on The Legend of Suriyothai
The Legend of Suriyothai
The Legend of Suriyothai is a 2001 Thai film directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol, telling the story of Queen Suriyothai, who died in a battle in 1548 against Burmese invaders...

but is more noted for her work with Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang is a Thai film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his arthouse work, Last Life in the Universe, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul...

on Fun Bar Karaoke
Fun Bar Karaoke
Fun Bar Karaoke is a 1997 crime-comedy directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film had its world premiere at the 1997 Berlin Film Festival for which Pen-Ek was credited as "Tom Pannet". It screened in the festival's Forum section.-Plot:...

, Monrak Transistor
Monrak Transistor
Monrak Transistor is a 2001 Thai film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. Blending several genres, including comedy, romance, musical and crime, it is the story of a young man named Pan and his odyssey after he goes AWOL from the army and tries to make it as a luk thung singing star.-Plot:The story...

, Last Life in the Universe
Last Life in the Universe
Last Life in the Universe is a 2003 Thai film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film is notable for being trilingual; the two main characters flit from Thai to Japanese to English as their vocabulary requires...

and Invisible Waves
Invisible Waves
Invisible Waves is a 2006 crime film by Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, with screenplay by Prabda Yoon, cinematography by Christopher Doyle, and starring Tadanobu Asano – all people that Pen-Ek had worked with on his previous film, Last Life in the Universe...

.
Lee Chatametikool
Lee Chatametikool
Lee Chatametikool is a Thai film editor and sound editor. He is a frequent collaborator with Apichatpong Weerasethakul and other Thai independent directors, but has also worked on commercial films, including the hit Thai horror film, Shutter....

– Worked with Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. His feature films include Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, winner of the prestigious 2010 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or prize; Tropical Malady, which won a jury prize at the 2004...

on Blissfully Yours
Blissfully Yours
Blissfully Yours is a 2002 Thai romance film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...

and Tropical Malady
Tropical Malady
Tropical Malady is a 2004 Thai romantic psychological drama film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It is a film in two segments – the first part a romance story about two homosexual men, and the second a mysterious tale about a soldier lost in the woods, bedeviled by the spirit of a shaman...

.

Notable Thai films

1923 - Miss Suwanna of Siam
Miss Suwanna of Siam
Miss Suwanna of Siam, or Nang Sao Suwan, was a 1923 romance film written and directed by Henry MacRae, set in Thailand and starring Thai actors. It was one of first feature films to be made in Thailand, and was the first Hollywood co-production in Thailand...

, though a Hollywood co-production, it's generally regarded as the first Thai film.
1927 - Chok Sorng Chan (Double Luck), the first all-Thai production.
1940 - King of the White Elephant
King of the White Elephant
The King of the White Elephant is a 1940 Thai historical drama film.Based on a novel and produced by Pridi Banomyong and released before Thailand's involvement in World War II, the English-language film carried a propaganda message from anti-war interests in Thailand, that Thailand should remain...

, an English-language historical epic with an anti-war message, produced by Pridi Phanomyong
Pridi Phanomyong
Pridi Banomyong was a highly revered Thai politician. He was a former Prime Minister and Senior Statesman of Thailand, and was named one of the world's great personalities of the 20th century by UNESCO in 2000.-Family background:...

.
1954 - Santi-Weena, the first Thai film to be entered in overseas competition (1954 Asia Pacific Film Festival
Asia Pacific Film Festival
The Asia Pacific Film Festival, first held in 1954, is film festival held annually in an Asian country designated by the Board of Directors of the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific.Awards are handed out for:*Best Film*Best Director...

in Tokyo).
1961 - Black Silk
Black Silk
Black Silk is a 1961 Thai crime drama film written and directed by Rattana Pestonji.Considered the first Thai film noir, Black Silk was also among the first Thai films to be exhibited at overseas film festivals, screening at the 11th Berlin International Film Festival in 1961.-Plot:Seni, a club...

, the first Thai film in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...

.
1970 - Monrak luk thung
Monrak luk thung
Monrak luk thung is a 1970 musical-comedy-romance film directed by Rungsri Tassanapuk and starring Mitr Chaibancha and Petchara Chaowarat. Released on May 15, 1970, the film was an enormous hit, playing in Thai cinemas for six months....

, starring Mitr Chaibancha
Mitr Chaibancha
Mitr Chaibancha was a Thai film actor who made 266 films from 1956 to 1970....

and Petchara Chaowarat
Petchara Chaowarat
Petchara Chaowarat is a Thai film actress who starred in around 300 films from 1961 to 1979. An icon of the "Golden Age" of Thai cinema, she was known for her round, pool-like eyes and elaborate hairstyles.Her first film and starring role was in Banthuk Rak Pimchawee , in 1961...

, was a hugely popular luk thung
Luk thung
Luk Thung refers to the most popular form of a style of music found in Thailand. The term is short for pleng luk thung .Luk Thung songs typically reflect the hardship of everyday life among the rural poor. Tempos tend to be slow, and singers use an expressive singing style with a lot of vibrato...

musical. It played in cinemas for six months.
1973 - Khao Chue Karn (Dr. Karn), directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol
Chatrichalerm Yukol
His Serene Highness Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol is a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A prolific director since the 1970s, among his films is the 2001 historical epic, The Legend of Suriyothai. A member of the Thai royal family, his official royal title is Mom Chao, or M.C., the...

, it was nearly banned because of its controversial look at corruption in the Thai civil service.
1977 - Plae Kao
Plae Kao
Plae Kao is a 1977 Thai romance-drama film directed by Cherd Songsri and starring Sorapong Chatree and Nantana Ngaograjang as two peasants in rural Thailand in a tragic, romantic relationship. The film is also known as simply The Scar....

(The Scar), directed by Cherd Songsri
Cherd Songsri
Cherd Songsri was a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A maker of period films that sought to introduce international audiences to his vision of Thai culture, his best-known work is the 1977 romance film Plae Kao , which earned more box-office receipts than any Thai film before it...

, it was the most successful Thai film at the box office of its day; also a prize-winner at the Three Continents Festival in Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.
1979 - The Adventure of Sudsakorn
The Adventure of Sudsakorn
The Adventure of Sudsakorn is a 1979 Thai animated fantasy film. The only cel-animated feature film ever made in Thailand, it was directed by Payut Ngaokrachang. It was released in Thailand on Songkran Day, April 13, 1979...

, the first full-length Thai animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...

feature, directed by Payut Ngaokrachang
Payut Ngaokrachang
Payut Ngaokrachang was a Thai cartoonist and animator. He created Thai cinema's first cel-animated feature film, The Adventure of Sudsakorn.-Early life:...

.
1985 - Butterfly and Flowers
Butterfly and Flowers
Butterfly and Flowers is a 1985 Thai drama film directed by Euthana Mukdasanit, set in Muslim-majority southern Thailand. The film was screened at the 1985 Hawaii International Film Festival, one of the earliest Thai films to gain exposure outside Thailand.The film is adapted from a 1978 novel of...

, an award-winning depiction of poverty along the Southern Thailand
Southern Thailand
Southern Thailand is a distinct region of Thailand, connected with the Central region by the narrow Kra Isthmus.-Geography:Southern Thailand is located on the Malay Peninsula, with an area around 70,713 km², bounded to the north by Kra Isthmus as the narrowest part of the peninsula. The...

border, directed by Euthana Mukdasanit
Euthana Mukdasanit
Euthana Mukdasanit is a Thai film director and screenwriter. As a contemporary of Chatrichalerm Yukol, Euthana was among a group of directors that during the 1970s made films that focused on social problems...

.
2000 - Tears of the Black Tiger
Tears of the Black Tiger
Tears of the Black Tiger is a 2000 Thai western film written and directed by Wisit Sasanatieng. The story of a tragic romance between Dum, a fatalistic, working-class hero, who has become an outlaw, and Rumpoey, the upper-class daughter of a provincial governor, it is equal parts homage to and...

(Fah Talai Jone), directed by Wisit Sasanatieng
Wisit Sasanatieng
Wisit Sasanatieng is a Thai film director and screenwriter of Chinese descent...

, it was the first Thai film to be included in the Cannes Film Festival programme.
2001 - The Legend of Suriyothai
The Legend of Suriyothai
The Legend of Suriyothai is a 2001 Thai film directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol, telling the story of Queen Suriyothai, who died in a battle in 1548 against Burmese invaders...

, Chatrichalerm's epic was the biggest film ever made in the Thai film industry.
2002 - Blissfully Yours
Blissfully Yours
Blissfully Yours is a 2002 Thai romance film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...

, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. His feature films include Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, winner of the prestigious 2010 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or prize; Tropical Malady, which won a jury prize at the 2004...

, won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

.
2003 - Tropical Malady
Tropical Malady
Tropical Malady is a 2004 Thai romantic psychological drama film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It is a film in two segments – the first part a romance story about two homosexual men, and the second a mysterious tale about a soldier lost in the woods, bedeviled by the spirit of a shaman...

, by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, was awarded a jury prize in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
2004 - The Overture
The Overture
The Overture is a 2004 Thai musical-drama film. A fictionalised account based on the life story of Thai palace musician Luang Pradit Phairoh , it follows the life of a Thai classical musician from the late 19th century to the 1940s...

, by Ittisoontorn Vichailak, was awarded several awards in Thailand and was the country's official selection for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
2006 - Dek hor
Dek hor
Dek hor is a 2006 Thai horror-drama film.-Plot:In Thailand, young Ton Chatree is sent to a boarding school by his father to get good grades and not tell his mother about his father having an affair. Once in the school, Ton feels like an outcast and misses his family and friends...

, by Songyos Sugmakanan
Songyos Sugmakanan
- Filmography :* My Elephant - short film* Fan Chan - co-directed* Dorm * Hormones...

, was awarded Crystal Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival.
2007 - Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town is a musical with a book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Leonard Bernstein...

, by Aditya Assarat
Aditya Assarat
Aditya Assarat is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, producer and cinematographer.-Early career:...

, was awarded a Special Jury Award at the Las Palmas Film Festival and won Tiger Award at Rotterdam International Film Festival.
2008 - Ploy
Ploy
Ploy is a 2007 Thai film written and directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film premiered during the Directors' Fortnight at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival....

, by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang is a Thai film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his arthouse work, Last Life in the Universe, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul...

, was premiered during the Directors' Fortnight at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

.
2010 - Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is a 2010 Thai film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It won the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:The film centers on the last days in the life of its title character...

, by Apichatpong Weerasethakul is the first Thai film to be awarded Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...

at the Cannes Film Festival, the first Asian film since 1997.

External links

Thailisting List of movie showtime listing in Siam area.
Thai films at the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...

– Links to index of the Thai-language titles
Thai Film Database
Thailand box office results at Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
MovieSeer – English and Thai movie listings and synopses.
Thai Film Foundation – National Film Archive companion website.
ThaiCinema.org – Thai and English news and reviews.
2007 movie release schedule – At the Pantip.com
Pantip.com
Pantip.com is a popular Thai-language website and discussion forum. As of April 2008, Pantip.com was one of the top 10 websites in Thailand, along with rival Thai portal Sanook.com...

portal; to navigate to different years, change the date in the URL.
Chalermthai archives – Pantip.com
Pantip.com
Pantip.com is a popular Thai-language website and discussion forum. As of April 2008, Pantip.com was one of the top 10 websites in Thailand, along with rival Thai portal Sanook.com...

's Thai movie synopses and photos.
Deknang – News, forum and galleries.
CinemaThai – English-language reviews and photo galleries
Thai Cinema at Thai World View – Images and English-language content
Thai film reviews at Hong Kong Cinema – View from the Brooklyn Bridge
Criticine Thailand – Thailand page of Southeast Asian Cinema journal Criticine

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

The first Thai films

The Golden Age

Film dubbing

Post-war years: The 16-mm era

Move toward 35 mm

The 1970s and '80s

The Thai New Wave

Thai independent film

Censorship

Action

Animation

Comedies

Crime

Gay films

Historical epics

Horror

Musicals

Romance

Teen

Short films

Film festivals

Film awards

Actors

Actresses

Directors

Producers

Screenwriters

Film editors

Notable Thai films

Further reading

External links