Bangkok 2004

Abstract

BANGKOK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2004 According to official figures, over 50,000 tickets were sold at the 1st Bangkok International Film Festival in 2003.  This year, only some 30,000 seats were taken, a sizable drop despite the massive budget of US$5 million, an improved film programme and a change of manage­ment: Craig Prater is now Executive Director and Jennifer Stark is Programme Director. Altogether, some 150 Thai and international films and digital videos from more than 24 countries were presented. The Festival (22 Jan to 2 Feb 2004), also saw the 1st Bangkok Film Market amidst the festival's glam, glitz, pomp and star-gazing. The opening film honour went to The Siam Renaissance by former experimental filmmaker Surapong Pinijkhar (Tawipop, Thailand, 2003). This stylish and fantastical blending of The Double Life of Veronique and Frequency stars the exotically pretty Florence Vanida F. as a Paris-based archivist who moves back in time to...