By M&C Movie News Jun 21, 2007, 1:15 GMT
From Sunday, September 30 until Saturday, October 6, 2007, the beautiful international resort destination of Phuket, Thailand will realize its first international film festival.
To be held at the new SF Cinema theaters at the international shopping destination of Jungceylon Shopping Center on Patong Beach, the Phuket Film Festival (PFF) will feature over 30 award winning feature films, documentaries and shorts from around the world.
In its first year, PFF is aiming for a “sanook” (Thai for “fun”) festival. With international producers, directors and talent attending, PFF not only wants to give them a taste of world famous Thai hospitality but also raise awareness of the continued need to utilize the beautiful Phuket locations for film shoots which contribute to the economic development of the region, ravaged three short years ago by the Boxer Day Tsunami.
Additionally, PFF will be the first Asian film festival to focus the spotlight on the need for preservation and restoration efforts for audio visual attributes. Too often, in the rush to finance films, film makers do not consider anything past “selling their film to market.”
Twenty or thirty years from now, without proper care, film will begin to disintegrate, while digital products will be unscreenable as technology advances far beyond size of present day capture storage capacity.
“Phuket has always been right for a film festival,” said Festival organizing staff and director of AMW International Co. Ltd. Chaiwat Ahantharik. “The problem has been that no modern movie theaters existed to support screening of films. Now with Thailand’s internationally award winning movie circuit, SF Cinema City opening world class screens on the island, Phuket is about to take its place on the roster of major international film festivals.”
The Festival will screen films that have won awards or received recognition at major international film festivals. Movies played at the Festival are broken down into three main categories: “A Slice of Life,” depicting life situations across a vast multitude of cultural settings; “Water,” being a film festival by the sea, who can resist great stories with bodies of water as a backdrop; and “The World Around Us,” real life situations that we should all be cognizant of.
In its inaugural year, the Phuket Film Festival will not have a formal jury. However working with its regional airline partner Thai Air Asia, a “Thai Air Asia the People’s Choice Awards” will be held where movie goers will be able to vote for their favorite moves, movie makers and talent.
“Again, following the theme of having a fun film festival, not only will movie makers benefit from our People’s Choice Awards but the public will have chances of winning Thai Air Asia tickets and free movie passes which heightens audience interest and helps make the Festival more people oriented,” added Mr. Ahantharik.
Activities during the seven day Festival include “gala” international premieres around films such as ‘’Dance Machine,’ (Spain 2007), and ‘A Hero in …Rome’ (Greece, 2007) as well as professional “networking” opportunities including an informal “Chill Fam Meet” at the famous Cape Panwa Hotel & Spa where the Thai production services industry will have an opportunity to meet with visiting Festival VIP’s in a day and night of spa, yacht and other recreational activities.
“We also have planned what we are calling “Movies on the Beach” – a series of classic Thai movies, borrowed from the Thai National Film Archives, screened outdoors,” Mr. Ahantharik said. “However, since we are completely private sector funded, we need to make sure we have enough partner support before moving ahead with some planned events.”
“Eventually we hope to be the springboard for Thai film productions which have international market value,” Ahantharik added. On the subject of who will attend the Phuket Film Festival, Mr.Ahanthariksaid, “Most often I am asked if any big name Hollywood or Korean ‘stars’ will attend. All I can say now is that several have been invited, who I expect will attend. We will announce closer to Festival opening the names and awards to be presented.”
“And why wouldn’t they attend? Ahantharik mused. “It is a fact that this high end film industry demographic already visits some of the 5+ star resorts on the island. These industry folk, joining us for our inaugural event will give the local community confidence that the Phuket Film Festival will become an integral annual event, helping in the continued economic development of the region.”
For those wishing to attend the Phuket Film Festival, Global Union Express Co., Ltd., (GUE) the official international travel agency of the Phuket Film Festival is offering a number of attractive travel packages.
For updated information on the Phuket Film Festival, visit the web site here
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