The 28th Thai Short Film and Video Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์สั้น ครั้งที่ 28) will take place from 14th to 22nd December at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya. As a prelude, all of the films submitted will be screened in alphabetical order in this year’s online Short Film Marathon (หนังสั้นมาราธอน), between 29th October and 4th December.
There were more than 600 submissions this year. A few of the highlights include Vichart Somkaew’s documentary 112 News from Heaven on 29th October (previously screened at Phatthalung Micro Cinema 0.5, the Doc Club Festival, and Vichart Movie Collection), Patipat Oakkharhaphunrat’s Black Hole on 31st October (previously shown at Tech Tales Youth), Pattanapong Khongsak’s Bad Taste (โอรส) also on 31st October, Warat Bureephakdee’s Crazy Soft Power Love on 1st November (previously screened at this year’s Wildtype), Teeraphan Ngowjeenanan’s Comedy Against Dictatorship also on 1st November, Vichart’s The Letter from Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ) on 5th November, Komtouch Napattaloong’s No Exorcism Film on 7th November (also previously screened at Wildtype), Vichart’s The Poem of the River (บทกวีแห่งสายน้ำ) on 8th November, Jarut Wisawong’s Twas Partly Love, and Partly Fear (another Wildtype film) on 12th November, and Chaiyapol Kokiartcajon’s Dust Beneath the Sun (ผู้หญิงที่ยังอยู่) on 22nd November.
There were more than 600 submissions this year. A few of the highlights include Vichart Somkaew’s documentary 112 News from Heaven on 29th October (previously screened at Phatthalung Micro Cinema 0.5, the Doc Club Festival, and Vichart Movie Collection), Patipat Oakkharhaphunrat’s Black Hole on 31st October (previously shown at Tech Tales Youth), Pattanapong Khongsak’s Bad Taste (โอรส) also on 31st October, Warat Bureephakdee’s Crazy Soft Power Love on 1st November (previously screened at this year’s Wildtype), Teeraphan Ngowjeenanan’s Comedy Against Dictatorship also on 1st November, Vichart’s The Letter from Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ) on 5th November, Komtouch Napattaloong’s No Exorcism Film on 7th November (also previously screened at Wildtype), Vichart’s The Poem of the River (บทกวีแห่งสายน้ำ) on 8th November, Jarut Wisawong’s Twas Partly Love, and Partly Fear (another Wildtype film) on 12th November, and Chaiyapol Kokiartcajon’s Dust Beneath the Sun (ผู้หญิงที่ยังอยู่) on 22nd November.
Comedy Against Dictatorship features an interview with comedian Setthawut Chanpensuk, who was inspired by Rap Against Dictatorship to start a satirical stand-up comedy routine. (In one of his live sets, he takes a swig of an energy drink: “Let me have a sip of Red Bull. Ahhh, the taste of inequality.”)
Bad Taste, tinted blue and set to the song Blue by Eiffel 65, features a judge who eats blue food from a dogfood bowl on the floor. The colour blue has a symbolic meaning in Thai politics, and the film implies the judge’s dog-like obedience.
The drama Dust Beneath the Sun was inspired by the case of Ampon Tangnoppakul, who died in jail while serving a twenty-year sentence for lèse-majesté, and the film dramatises the moment when he is arrested and his home is searched by the police. Ampon was convicted on the basis of SMS messages allegedly sent from his cellphone, though he always denied sending them, and the film portrays him as a royalist, his house decorated with calendars and portraits of Rama IX. (Two songs composed by Rama IX are featured on the soundtrack.)
Bad Taste, tinted blue and set to the song Blue by Eiffel 65, features a judge who eats blue food from a dogfood bowl on the floor. The colour blue has a symbolic meaning in Thai politics, and the film implies the judge’s dog-like obedience.
The drama Dust Beneath the Sun was inspired by the case of Ampon Tangnoppakul, who died in jail while serving a twenty-year sentence for lèse-majesté, and the film dramatises the moment when he is arrested and his home is searched by the police. Ampon was convicted on the basis of SMS messages allegedly sent from his cellphone, though he always denied sending them, and the film portrays him as a royalist, his house decorated with calendars and portraits of Rama IX. (Two songs composed by Rama IX are featured on the soundtrack.)