The Bangkok International Film Festival 2026 (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์นานาชาติกรุงเทพมหานคร ปี 2569) begins tomorrow, with a gala screening of Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s Nine Temples to Heaven (๙ วัด สู่สวรรค์) at Icon Siam’s Cineconic cinema. The festival runs until 27th September.
BKKIFF’s Thai Classics programme includes two blockbusters directed by Nonzee Nimibutr: Nang Nak (นางนาก) on 15th September and Dang Bireley’s and Young Gangsters [sic] (2499 อันธพาลครองเมือง) on 26th September. Both screenings will take place at Doc Club and Friends. (The two films were also both shown at last year’s Microwave Film Festival in Sisaket.)
Dateline Bangkok first wrote about BKKIFF back in 2005, and for the next four years — 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 — until the festival’s temporary closure. And the event is still being covered here more than twenty years later.
BKKIFF’s Thai Classics programme includes two blockbusters directed by Nonzee Nimibutr: Nang Nak (นางนาก) on 15th September and Dang Bireley’s and Young Gangsters [sic] (2499 อันธพาลครองเมือง) on 26th September. Both screenings will take place at Doc Club and Friends. (The two films were also both shown at last year’s Microwave Film Festival in Sisaket.)
Dateline Bangkok first wrote about BKKIFF back in 2005, and for the next four years — 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 — until the festival’s temporary closure. And the event is still being covered here more than twenty years later.
BKKIFF was originally known as the Bangkok Film Festival when it was launched in 1998 as a commercial event organised by Nation Multimedia. It continued annually for the next four years, until it was renamed the Bangkok International Film Festival in 2003, under the joint sponsorship of Nation Multimedia and the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
That partnership was very short-lived, as Nation Multimedia established a rival event, the World Film Festival of Bangkok, later in 2003. Meanwhile, the Bangkok International Film Festival, organised by TAT alone, continued annually until 2009.
Being run by the tourism department rather than a cultural organisation, the festival often prioritised glitz and glamour over cinematic quality. More shockingly, Juthamas Siriwan, a former TAT governor, was convicted of receiving almost $2 million in bribes linked to the festival, and was jailed for fifty years.
After a long hiatus, the festival was relaunched last year, under completely new management. The relaunch, organised by the Thailand Creative Culture Agency, had a few teething problems, though they seem to have been resolved this year, with an improved website and a confirmed schedule.
Nang Nak has had numerous screenings over the years, including at the Thai Film Archive in 2024, 2021, and 2013. It was also screened at Doc Club and Pub in 2024, at Lido Connect in 2020, at Bangkok Screening Room in 2019, at an outdoor screening in 2018, and at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand in 2010.
Dang Bireley’s and Young Gangsters had two outdoor screenings in 2022: in Chiang Mai (in 35mm) and Bangkok. It was shown at Scala in 2018, and at Ramada Plaza in 2010. It was shown twice at the Film Archive in 2020. Its most recent screening was at Sala Chaloem Thani earlier this year.
That partnership was very short-lived, as Nation Multimedia established a rival event, the World Film Festival of Bangkok, later in 2003. Meanwhile, the Bangkok International Film Festival, organised by TAT alone, continued annually until 2009.
Being run by the tourism department rather than a cultural organisation, the festival often prioritised glitz and glamour over cinematic quality. More shockingly, Juthamas Siriwan, a former TAT governor, was convicted of receiving almost $2 million in bribes linked to the festival, and was jailed for fifty years.
After a long hiatus, the festival was relaunched last year, under completely new management. The relaunch, organised by the Thailand Creative Culture Agency, had a few teething problems, though they seem to have been resolved this year, with an improved website and a confirmed schedule.
Nang Nak has had numerous screenings over the years, including at the Thai Film Archive in 2024, 2021, and 2013. It was also screened at Doc Club and Pub in 2024, at Lido Connect in 2020, at Bangkok Screening Room in 2019, at an outdoor screening in 2018, and at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand in 2010.
Dang Bireley’s and Young Gangsters had two outdoor screenings in 2022: in Chiang Mai (in 35mm) and Bangkok. It was shown at Scala in 2018, and at Ramada Plaza in 2010. It was shown twice at the Film Archive in 2020. Its most recent screening was at Sala Chaloem Thani earlier this year.
