The 16th World Film Festival of Bangkok (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์โลกแห่งกรุงเทพฯ ครั้งที่ 16) begins on 7th November with the Thai premiere of Sivaroj Kongsakul’s new film Regretfully at Dawn (อรุณกาล). The festival will run until 17th November.
Kriengsak Silakong, the festival’s founder, sadly died in 2022, and the Lotus award for lifetime achievement was renamed in his honour. Like the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th festivals, this year’s event will take place at CentralWorld’s SF World cinema. (The 6th, 7th, and 8th festivals were held at Paragon Cineplex; the 5th, 9th, and 10th took place at Esplanade Cineplex.)
Kriengsak Silakong, the festival’s founder, sadly died in 2022, and the Lotus award for lifetime achievement was renamed in his honour. Like the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th festivals, this year’s event will take place at CentralWorld’s SF World cinema. (The 6th, 7th, and 8th festivals were held at Paragon Cineplex; the 5th, 9th, and 10th took place at Esplanade Cineplex.)
Regretfully at Dawn is one of several recent Thai films whose protagonists are retired soldiers nearing the end of their lives. Sivaroj’s film includes flashbacks in which the main character, an elderly man called Yong (played by Caravan band-member Surachai Jantimathawn), is haunted by his time in the military. The time frame is not specified, though judging by Yong’s age, he likely fought against the Communist insurgency in the 1970s.
Taiki Sakpisit’s The Edge of Daybreak (พญาโศกพิโยคค่ำ) and Jakrawal Nilthamrong’s Anatomy of Time (เวลา) also feature protagonists who cannot escape the memories of their anti-Communist past, though Yong is a more sympathetic figure than the dying men in Taiki and Jakrawal’s films. Similarly, the title character in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ) confesses that he “killed too many communists”, though the film doesn’t include flashbacks to that period of Boonmee’s life.
Taiki Sakpisit’s The Edge of Daybreak (พญาโศกพิโยคค่ำ) and Jakrawal Nilthamrong’s Anatomy of Time (เวลา) also feature protagonists who cannot escape the memories of their anti-Communist past, though Yong is a more sympathetic figure than the dying men in Taiki and Jakrawal’s films. Similarly, the title character in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ) confesses that he “killed too many communists”, though the film doesn’t include flashbacks to that period of Boonmee’s life.
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World Film Festival of Bangkok: https://www.worldfilmbangkok.com/program/regretfully-at-dawn/
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