Bangkok World Film Festival: The Head of the Dragon
The objective of the World Film Festival of Bangkok is to introduce quality, non-mainstream films from all over the world. It aims to become a showcase for independent films and new work from rising talents to cinema masters, to show the continuity from generation to generation as a vital component in the development of the film industry.
More than 80 international films are screened at the festival each year, featuring works from the European Union Film Festival, Latin America, Asia and Southeast Asia and including short films, experimental films, documentaries and animation productions–which are considered a new focus of the industry.
Apart from film screenings, there are film-related talks such as the Master Class Workshop and other special events. The festival, in co-operation with the Festival of Three Continents and Produire Au Sud from France, also runs a workshop to guide film producers seeking funds for their new projects. At the end of the workshop, the most interesting film projects in Southeast Asia will be selected to receive funds and the makers will be invited to the final selection in France.
With over seven years experience, the World Film Festival of Bangkok has now become a significant film festival in Southeast Asia attracting more film industry and media from all over the world and is also attended by directors and film stars. The organizers will continue to carry forward the spirit and intent of the festival’s establishment–that is to make the World film Festival of Bangkok a center of international films in Bangkok, already well known as one of the world’s capital city’s of culture and entertainment.
The Head of the Dragon: Shanghai vs Bangkok!
1st Session
Sylvie Levey, Shanghai Waiting for Paradise, 26 minutes, 2007
Filmmaker Sylvie Levey (France) spent five years documenting the Wang family, three generations of Chinese living under one roof in the old city of Shanghai, who are suddenly confronted by the imminent demolition of their home. The film Shanghai Waiting for Paradise, tracks their hopes, struggles and frustrations with China and the rest of the world, as well as the tremendous stresses on Chinese families when globalization arrives abruptly, even violently.
2nd Session
Olivo Barbieri, A Silent Story, 15 minutes, 2004
Olivo Barbieri (Italy, b. 1954) first exhibited his work in 1978. Since 1989, he regularly travels to Asia, particularly to China. In 1993, 1995, and 1997, he participated to the Venice Biennale and in other international events devoted to contemporary visual arts. In 1996, he held a retrospective exhibit of his work at the Folkwang Museum in Essen. In 2003, Barbieri started the project site specific_ (photographs and films), which involves several cities: Rome, Turin, Montreal, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Amman, Seville and New York. Barbieri’s images may be viewed in museums, collections and universities in Italy and abroad.
Zhang Ding, Great Era, 14 minutes, 2007
Zhang Dings’s most recent film Great Era is a surrealistic Fellini-inspired voyage using Shanghai as its theatrical backdrop. The protagonist rides along staged tableaux with his bike (disguised as a horse) in scenes perfectly synchronized with the film’s sound score.
Mathieu Borysevicz, Tai’An lu, 12 minutes, 2008
Mathieu Borysevicz’s (United States, b. 1971) Tai’An lu is a lyrical account of a pregnant woman’s journey through the city of Shanghai. The father-to-be (the artist) wanders through the city looking for his lost pregnant wife and creates a surreal portrayal of the contradictions of daily life in Shanghai.
Speedism, IAHGNAHS ONHCET (Techno Shanghai), 5 minutes, 2009
The 3D animation film titled IAHGNAHS ONHCET, which is Techno Shanghai spelled backwards, or should we say blackwards, as the doomed BLACK CELEBRATION that it might be; opposed to “the real” Shanghai, it is a copy of a copy of a copy. Incestuous, mutating, decaying–an urban theme park, the city of cities, the theme park of theme parks. But in this state of (architectural) being, it starts breathing again. The IAHGNAHS ONHCET story will be a fantasy come true of our Chinese adventures first depicted in the artist’s Doom Dough project.
