The event will present six films from the selection of the Festival de Cannes 2019 and invite a few select industry professionals to introduce their work and practices through a series of Q&As and masterclasses.

“The Festival de Cannes Film Week began in Buenos Aires almost 10 years ago with the idea of taking the spirit of the Festival on a global journey, thereby continuing the dialogue with people from all over the world who visit us in Cannes every year in May and creating a cinema moment with a unique format. At the Festival de Cannes we invite the whole world to come to Cannes to celebrate the art of filmmaking, to discover the latest works of great contemporary directors and to get a taste for what is up and coming in the world of cinema. With our Festival de Cannes Film Week, we hope to initiate the very opposite by taking to the road and bringing the spirit of the Festival and the work of artists to other parts of the globe,” said Pierre Lescure, president of the Festival.

Adrian Cheng, founder of K11 Group and executive vice-chairman of New World Development, believes in the power of creativity, culture and innovation to enrich daily life across businesses and local communities.

“For decades, Festival de Cannes has been synonymous with culture and creativity, and through them, it has grown to become the landmark festival that brings together the very best creative powers of cinematography. It is through our aligned vision to bring world-class curated content to a global audience that Festival de Cannes Film Week at K11 Musea is made possible. This is an important milestone for K11 Musea as we look to develop an ongoing programme of innovative cultural events for our international audience.”

Ticket details will be released later in the year. Keep updated at http://www.Festivalcannes.com.

Travelling Waves is a multicity programme that brings Southeast Asian cinematic voices to independent screening venues around the region. The inaugural edition will present five short films by emerging regional filmmakers in Bangkok, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur and discussions with filmmakers will also be organised to exchange ideas and perspectives.

“Even though SGIFF is based in Singapore, we want to better connect with our neighbouring film communities through this regional programme and the initiatives of the SGIFF Film Academy. Partnering with independent film spaces such as the Bangkok Screening Room, Kinosaurus and TDSC allows us to work closely with film organisations that champion the independent spirit we see in short films. Through these programmes, we see the strength of the region coming together to further develop and nurture the potential of storytelling in Southeast Asia,” said executive director Yuni Hadi.

The first session at Bangkok Screening Room on April 20 received a fullhouse reception. A testament of the curiosity towards Southeast Asian films, the audience participated actively in the post-screening dialogue with filmmakers Pathompon Mont Tesprateep (“Song X”) and Danech San (“A Million Years”). The session was moderated by Thai film critic Kong Rithdee, who will also return to SGIFF as head mentor of the Youth Jury and Critics Programme this year. Travelling Waves will be hosted next at Jakarta on June 15 and Kuala Lumpur on July 20 where attendees can also look forward to engaging screenings and discussions with filmmakers. Interested parties can visit https://sgiff.com/travellingwaves/ for ticketing details.

Returning for its fourth edition, this year’s New Waves will take place over an intimate weekend on July 12 and 13, comprising screenings and a panel discussion to develop the film audience in Singapore. The allnew format is tailored to gather more filmmakers at the same time to share diverse viewpoints and vibrant discussions with film aficionados and beginners alike.

Part of the SGIFF Film Academy, this year’s New Waves will see retrospectives of short films produced by Akanga Film Asia and led by Fran Borgia, who produced Boo Junfeng’s “Apprentice” (2016) and Yeo Siew Hua’s “A Land Imagined” (2018). It will also chart the rise and development of award-winning filmmaker Anthony Chen, in anticipation of his sophomore effort “Wet Season” (2019), after the award-winning feature “Ilo Ilo” (2013). Both Borgia and Chen will participate in the post-screening discussions. There will also be a curated lineup of films from the female perspective in “Through Her Eyes”; while Southeast Asian stories and regional cultural histories will be discussed with local filmmakers such as Nicole Midori Woodford and M Raihan Halim, moderated by writer Alfian Sa’at.

The 30th SGIFF will run from November 21 to December 1. Its call for entries for Feature and Short Films, Southeast Asian Film Lab, and Youth Jury & Critics Programme is now open and will continue till August 19.

Learn more at http://www.Sgiff.com.

SET IN A mythical pre-historic land, the new South Korean series “Arthdal Chronicles”, now showing on Netflix, has success written all over it. It comes courtesy of the pens of renowned screenwriters Kim Young-hyun and Park Sang-yeon whose work on the “Dae Jang Guem” series, among others, had Thais glued to the screens.

Directed by Kim Won-seok, the new series also features an all-star cast including Jae Dong-gun, Song Joong-ki, Kim Ji-won and Kim Ok-vin.

                             Soong Jung-Ki

The story takes place in a mythical land called Arth and see the inhabitants of the ancient city of Arthdal and its surrounding regions, which includes Lark (pronounced ie-ark), vie for power as they build a new society. The Arthdal Tribal Alliance is headed by the Saenyeok Tribe led by Sanung (Kim Eui-sung). Sanung’s son Tagon (Jang Dong-gun) is the leader of the allied force and leads the army to fight against the Neanthal – a tribe with extraordinary physical power. The Neanthal clan is viewed as a monster while the Arthdal Alliance is more sophisticated and civilised, practising agriculture and open to adopting new ideas. But as the Arthdal alliance develops, its need for natural resources and power increases and the fighters raid other tribal lands to expand their power base and increase their productivity.

                                      Kim Jee-won

Eunseom (Song Jung-ki) is an Igutu (a mix of Saram and Neanthal) whose mother took him from Arthdal land on the Great Black Cliff to live in Lark with the Wahan Tribe, which Tanya (Kim Jee-won) will eventually lead. For now though, he is considered as an outsider.

But with all their sophistication, the people of the Arthdal alliance are unable to dream and consider those who can, like the Neanthal and Igutu, as evil. Tagon leads his army to raid the Wahan and other tribes in Lark area but while Eunseon may appear innocent, his protective instincts are quite strong that he does not hesitate to be aggressive when attacks are imminent. And of course love comes into play through Tanya and Taealha, the latter the most beautiful lady in Arthdal and with the strongest desire for power.

Director Kim Won-seok took time out from post-production last week to attend a press conference at the Imperial Palace Seoul, saying: “We do not expect compliments just because we worked hard, but the cast and crew believe Korea should have a drama like this. Please evaluate it after watching at least the first two episodes.”

                           Director Kim Won-seok

“In the historical dramas I have done in the past, the audience could predict what would happen because they knew the king and the era we were talking about. This series is mythical and therefore unpredictable so please just watch the first two episodes. I am sure that by the end of episode 2 you will learn more about the universe of ‘Arthdal Chronicles’,” added Park Sang-yeon, one of the two screenwriters.

Initially titled “Asadal Chronicles” – Asadal being the capital of Gojoseon, the ancient kingdom on the Korean Peninsula founded by Dungun – the writers decided to set their story on an imaginary continent called Arth because they wanted to create an association between the name and the earth. Their research revealed that the Korean world “Dal” originally meant the earth, a field, or plains.

The idea for the series was conceived in 2012 after the huge success of “Deep Rooted Tree”, also written by Kim Young Hyun and Park Sang Yeon, which chronicled King Sejong and his invention of the Korean alphabet –Hanguel.

“In 2012, I wrote a proposal about this project to the network. They were surprised by the content and tried to stop me from taking it further,” Kim Young-hyon explains.

She and Park Sang Yeon later joined up with Kim Won-suk and “Arthdal” was officially born.

“We wondered, ‘did humans always dream?’ We built this world around the notion that perhaps humans haven’t always had the ability to dream and they discovered it somewhere along the way in history,” Kim says

“We found it interesting how only homo sapiens survived while the Neanderthal didn’t. We thought about why that was and decided to incorporate conversations about diversity and its acceptance in this drama,” she adds.

“Arthdal Chronicles” is Song Joong Ki’s first drama in three years since the major 2016 hit “Descendants of the Sun”.

“It’d be a lie if I said I felt no pressure. My thanks are due to my senior co-star Jang Dong-gun who helped reduce that pressure. He and I were close before we filmed the drama. We saw each other nearly every day for four months while working out. [His] reliability gently seeped in. I felt secure just by his presence on set.”

Song adds that although the story is set in the past, he didn’t approach it as he would an historical drama and change his voice and way of speaking. Instead he mostly adopts the same acting style including the gestures he would use in a modern series.

Actor Jang admits that when he first heard about the project, the only aspect with which he was familiar was the name “Asadal”.

“When we started working, it was difficult as unlike historical dramas where we have references to work with, here there’s nothing.

“We’ve never experienced this era and of course it’s imaginary anyway so it requires a lot of hard work. However the two writers created a very detailed screenplay, even providing us with a map of the region so that we are able to understand our location and how we should act,” added Jang, who gained 8 kg to bulk up for the role.

“The director and the writers are recognised for their work and the fact they are working on a new idea made me to look at myself. I guess it was a risk that people would criticise me for my acting skills but the project was definitely worth it,” Song says.

The fights between the tribes along with the production design and costumes are bound to draw parallels among viewers with HBO’s epic “Game of Thrones” and “The Lord of the Rings” but writer Park insists that “Arthdal” shouldn’t be compared to those great stories.

“’Arthdal’ is set in a pre-historic era. We are doing something different and we have done our best to create our own thing so hopefully audiences will see the series from a different perspective.”

Several recent Korean dramas have brought such new ideas into their stories as parallel worlds, zombies and AR technology. Actor Jang puts this down to Koreans being keen to embrace new things but warns that they get bored quickly too. “So I guess creators need to keep searching for new things and with Arthdal, we have that.”

“Korean films and dramas are loved because of their diverse contents. I am truly proud that our show is set in a very new and refreshing kind of a setting and I firmly believe that this is the strength of this series,” he says.

And while the writers originally planned three seasons of the “Arthdal Chronicles”, Kim says that for now she is focusing on Season 1. “If it’s successful then we can start discussions on future seasons,” she says, adding, “but nothing is confirmed for now.”

“Godzilla is depicted as an enormous, prehistoric creature which has survived extinction but been awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation. In 1954’s ‘Gojira’, the director wanted Godzilla to represent the nuclear bomb and the violence in the aftermath of nuclear warfare. So, Godzilla can connect to humans easier than other monsters. It is like us looking at our mistakes,” said movie guru and columnist Eakarach “Beer” Monwat.

But is Godzilla a good or bad monster and does he protect or destroy the world?

“Actually, Godzilla is a living creature above our understanding. Since the debut movie in 1954, we have never known why Godzilla comes ashore. Later, the producer Toho created Godzilla to be like a hero for children. For me, I guess that Godzilla seems to protect its territory like a dog. I think that it should be an anti-hero,” said Beer.

What is “Godzilla II: King of the Monsters” about?

“I think that the producer wanted to interpret Godzilla to be like a man, like the last samurai, who keeps the balance or the rules. Godzilla will appear when a monster comes,” said Beer.

“I compare Godzilla to be like a sumo, Japanese wrestler. In my memory, I have always thought that Godzilla is a hero. But, in 1998, Godzilla was interpreted to be like a lizard, or iguana that had been affected from radioactivity,” said Theerachai Wimolchaireuk, aka Toni Rakkaen.

“The movie wasn’t successful because Godzilla was too thin and died after being shot. But, Toho has a rule that Godzilla mustn’t be dead. So he can return to life,” said Beer.

This second sequel also includes three monsters: Rodan, a “massive A-bomb” that brings “speed and ferocity”, Mothra, a moth with long legs in order to defend herself against other monsters, and King Ghidorah, a giant three-headed dragon with a massive wingspan and Godzilla’s arch-enemy.

“King Ghidorah’s three heads can move like a snake and wolf,” said the guru.

For more information and ticket reservations, call SF Smart Call: 1349 or visit http://www.SFCinemaCity.com.

“Godzilla is depicted as an enormous, prehistoric creature which has survived extinction but been awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation. In 1954’s ‘Gojira’, the director wanted Godzilla to represent the nuclear bomb and the violence in the aftermath of nuclear warfare. So, Godzilla can connect to humans easier than other monsters. It is like us looking at our mistakes,” said movie guru and columnist Eakarach “Beer” Monwat.

But is Godzilla a good or bad monster and does he protect or destroy the world?

“Actually, Godzilla is a living creature above our understanding. Since the debut movie in 1954, we have never known why Godzilla comes ashore. Later, the producer Toho created Godzilla to be like a hero for children. For me, I guess that Godzilla seems to protect its territory like a dog. I think that it should be an anti-hero,” said Beer.

What is “Godzilla II: King of the Monsters” about?

“I think that the producer wanted to interpret Godzilla to be like a man, like the last samurai, who keeps the balance or the rules. Godzilla will appear when a monster comes,” said Beer.

“I compare Godzilla to be like a sumo, Japanese wrestler. In my memory, I have always thought that Godzilla is a hero. But, in 1998, Godzilla was interpreted to be like a lizard, or iguana that had been affected from radioactivity,” said Theerachai Wimolchaireuk, aka Toni Rakkaen.

“The movie wasn’t successful because Godzilla was too thin and died after being shot. But, Toho has a rule that Godzilla mustn’t be dead. So he can return to life,” said Beer.

This second sequel also includes three monsters: Rodan, a “massive Abomb” that brings “speed and ferocity”, Mothra, a moth with long legs in order to defend herself against other monsters, and King Ghidorah, a giant three-headed dragon with a massive wingspan and Godzilla’s archenemy.

“King Ghidorah’s three heads can move like a snake and wolf,” said the guru.

For more information and ticket reservations, call SF Smart Call: 1349 or visit http://www.SFCinemaCity.com.

DESPITE SOUTH KOREAN director Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” scoring the Palme d’Or at the just-ended Cannes Film Festival, Asia had an unusually poor showing at this year’s prestigious event, with very few Asian titles selected for screening.

Of the 21 films in the main competition and 18 in Un Certain Regard, only five Asian movies made it to the Cannes screens. Siebar sections like the Director’s Fortnight had three, while International Critics’ Weel had one, a Chinese production.

In the latest film from the Myanmarborn Taiwanese filmmaker Midi Z, Wu KeXi, who has starred in almost all Midi Z’s films plays Nina Wu, a young actress who fights to survive in the tough Taiwanese entertainment business.

One of those, which along with “Parasite” showed in the main competition, was “The Wild Goose Lake”, the fourth feature by Chinese filmmaker Diao Yinan whose 2014 oeuvre “Black Coal, Thin Ice” won the Golden Bear from Berlin International Film Festival.

The film, a Chinese-French co-production, marked Diao Yinan’s debut at Cannes and saw him again working with “Black Coal, Thin Ice” cast members, Taiwanese actress Gwei Lun-Mei (“Blue Gate Crossing”) and Liao Fan (“Ash is Purest White”) alongside Chinese actor and singer Hu Ge and actress Regina Wan.

“When I chose the actors, I didn’t base myself on their physical appearance. You don’t need someone who looks like a gangster to play a gangster. It has far more to do with the acting ability of that person to become the character,” Diao Yinan told The Nation.

“Actors can change their existence. In cinema, there are quite a number of actors who can play any kind of role with any kind of director. Take Alain Delon. He can play in an arthouse film or even a new wave or gangster film with credibility and ease. I’m very open,” Diao adds.

In Diao Yinan’s latest film “The Wild Goose Lake”, Taiwanese actress Gwei Lun-Mei plays Liu Alai, a sex worker in a town near the lake who is sent to help Zenong, a gangster on the run. 

In “The Wild Goose Lake”, Hu Ge plays Zhou Zenong, a gangster who comes to meet with Alai (Gwei Lun-Mei), the bathing beauty (aka prostitute) sent by his wife to help him. Zenong killed a policeman. He is injured and has to find a place to hide from Liu, the policeman who is hot on his tracks.

“In my film, I don’t consider that I have a message to convey. I simply try to show all the facts so that each spectator can enjoy his or her own experience when watching the film,” says Diao Yinan, who describes the film as a crime noir that shows the underground world of China.

Actor-turned-director Zu Feng, whose first feature was selected for Cannes, also portrays the main character in the film ABin, a policeman who becomes involved with a strange murder case when a fisherman finds a human arm floating in the river.

“I was very happy to work again with director Diao,” says Liao Fan who won a Silver Bear for Best Actor for “Black Coal, Thin Ice” from Berlin in 2014. “In the film, I play the character of the inspector, just as I did in “Black Coal, Thin Ice”. However, the two films have a very different style. In “The Wild Goose Lake”, the characters speak in the local dialect of Wuhan.”

For the Mandarin-speaking actors, getting the dialect right meant a long stay in Wuhan. “Gwei Lun-Mei was in Wuhan for two months before I arrived. I also went to police station to see how they work and live,” says Liao.

“When I observed the local police station, I chose one policeman there as my model. That helped me understand my role in the film. I didn’t have much knowledge of the local dialect but thanks to this period of observation, I was able to learn more than just the way of speaking,” he adds.

“We thought about shooting the film in Guangdong in Southern China. We wanted to find a place with lakes and a city nearby. Finally we found a place in the north, in Yinchuan where there is a lake though it is not so close to the town. Then we came up with the idea of shooting the film in the area that’s home to the highest number of lakes in China, which is near Wuhan. That’s why the actors had to learn the local dialect,” Diao Yinan explains.

Despite being selected by the most prestigious film festival in the world, “Summer of Changsha” faced problems with Chinese censorship and the producers were forced to pull the film from the festival. It did eventually screen but without any formal presentation.

Two Chinese-language films were selected for Un Certain Regard. One of them “Nina Wu” is the latest movie from Myanmar-born Taiwanese |film director Midi Z, and is the first |of his works that is not about Myanmar. The story is set in Taiwan and is about the country’s entertainment. His usual collaborator, actress Wu Ke-Xi plays Nina Wu, a young woman whose family is in debt. She is trying hard to become an actress, but the path is not easy and the more successful she becomes, the higher the price she has to pay. “Nina Wu” will open the Taipei Film Festival later this month.

The second Chinese film in Un Certain Regard has not been so lucky. Actor-turned-film director Zu Feng’s first feature film “Summer of Changsha” is a crime-drama about a policeman who is investigating the case of a body that’s been mutilated and thrown into the river. Rumours indicated that the film had problems with Chinese censors forcing the producer pull it out of the festival resulting in Zu Feng cancelling his trip to Cannes.

Although the film was eventually screened at the festival, no member of cast or crew was on hand to present it. Again the rumour mill was rife, with speculation that some of the cast were already in Cannes but couldn’t show up at the screening. After Cannes, it is difficult to know where and when this film will play next – or, of course, even if it will.

Film critics who watched a preview on Friday said the local distributor had censored some scenes for legal reasons.

In a joint statement with the filmmakers, the superstar said he only became aware of the cuts on Friday.

“We reject in the strongest possible terms the decision to censor Rocketman for the Russian market,” said the statement, published on the singer’s Twitter account.

“That the local distributor had found it necessary to edit out certain scenes, denying the audience the opportunity to see the film as it was intended is a sad reflection on the divided world we still live in and how it can still be so cruelly unaccepting of the love between two people.”

Russia has a dire record on LGBT rights and a controversial law bans the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relationships” to minors, though it is not clear why this would apply to the 18-rated film.

Film critic Anton Dolin wrote on his Facebook page that all the sex or kissing scenes had been cut out, adding that the edits had been “very obvious”.

The film, which is set for general release in Russia next week, addresses the British pop icon’s struggles with his sexuality, drugs and alcohol.

Another journalist who attended the screening, Misha Kozyrev, wrote that scenes featuring drugs were also cut from the film.

“Yes, the film has been amended to comply with the laws of the Russian Federation,” distribution company Central Partnership told the TASS news agency, without providing details.

– Family life also censored –

Russia’s culture minister Vladimir Medinsky told state agency RIA Novosti that his ministry had nothing to do with the edits and that “everything is decided by the distributor.”

“We do not cut anything, I don’t even understand what this is about,” he was quoted as saying.

Film critic Dolin said the text that ends the film was also changed, to say only that Elton John founded an NGO to fight AIDS.

But in the original, viewers learn that he eventually found love and is raising two children with his same-sex partner.

In the statement, the singer praises Paramount Pictures for being “brave and bold” in allowing a true representation of his life.

“We believe in building bridges and open dialogue, and will continue to push for the breaking down of barriers until all people are heard equally across the world,” the statement concluded.

Amnesty International called the censorship of the film “an insult for the rights of LGBTI people.”

In a statement on Friday it said the editing of the film was an example of Russia’s anti-gay laws “undercutting freedom of expression and encouraging homophobia in Russia.”

Other films that included gay scenes, including the recent biopic about British rock star Freddy Mercury, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, were shown in Russian cinemas.

Elton John is popular in Russia, where he first performed during the Soviet era in 1979 but he has been a vocal critic of the country’s anti-gay laws.

“Rocketman” premiered on May 16 at the Cannes film festival where it received a standing ovation.

Quentin Tarantino stormed into Cannes Tuesday with “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”, which critics at the world’s biggest film festival hailed as his best movie in years.

They heaped praise on the dark Tinseltown fairytale set in the Los Angeles of 1969 starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a television Western star on the slide and Brad Pitt as his stunt double.

Twenty-five years after the American director won Cannes’ top Palme d’Or prize for “Pulp Fiction”, he got some of his best reviews since “Jackie Brown” in 1997.

Critic Peter Howell of the Toronto Star said that Tarantino wanted “to tell us a story about Hollywood life at the time of the Manson family slayings… and man, does he ever, going from awe-struck to WTF”.

“Brad Pitt the standout, his coolest role yet,” he added in a tweet.

The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw was equally euphoric, calling the film a “brilliant exploitation blackcomedy” which “finds a pulpfictionally redemptive take on the Manson nightmare: shocking, gripping, dazzlingly shot in the celluloid-primary colours of sky blue and sunset gold.”

Deadline declared that it was the “film Tarantino was born to make… gloriously, wickedly indulgent, compelling and hilarious.”

The online film magazine even called for a sequel.

“The world is a more colourful place in Tarantino’s twilight zone. Round two, please.”

Critics clapped at the end having laughed throughout, but there were none of the standing ovations at the press preview that sometimes greet films at Cannes.

And not everyone was won over by Tarantino’s genius.

Tim Grierson of the industry journal Screen tweeted that “like a lot of recent Tarantino, this is baggy, self-indulgent, fascinatingly its own thing and ambitiously conceived.”

Yet even he conceded that “it’s accomplished, sometimes dazzlingly so” even if “it ends up being as hitormiss as his last few”.

There was much more emotion at the blacktie gala screening, with Tarantino doing John Travolta’s two-fingered dance move swipe from “Pulp Fiction” to acknowledge the prolonged standing ovation given by the VIP audience.

British actress Tilda Swinton, one of the stars of “The Dead Don’t Die”, the satirical zombie movie that opened the festival, wiped away tears as she shook the director’s hand to congratulate him.

Earlier, as he walked the red carpet for the premiere, Tarantino compared his film to Alfonso Cuaron’s Oscar-winning “Roma”, saying it is “a memory piece, the way ‘Roma’ was a memory piece… In 1969, Los Angeles was like that.”

The director admitted that “Cannes changed my life” after he brought his first feature “Reservoir Dogs” there in 1992.

“I came here a small independent filmmaker and I left here known by all the critics… and made myself a name as an international filmmaker. And then two years later, my life changed all over again” when he won the Palme d’Or with “Pulp Fiction”.

DiCaprio, 44, told reporters that the film is “a throwback to the type of Hollywood epics we don’t get to see any more.

“It’s all from the mind of the great Quentin Tarantino, who’s not only one of the best writers but one of the best directors on Earth.

“It’s about Hollywood and we play outsiders trying to make our way in a changing world in 1969 as the world passes by,” he said.

Costar and architecture buff Pitt, who is 55 but looks far younger on screen, described the movie as “a love letter to Hollywood and to LA… a city I love.”

Just before the movie was screened, festival director Thierry Fremaux appealed to critics not to give away the plot.

Tarantino made a similar plea Monday, writing a letter that was posted on the movie’s Twitter account begging journalists not to let details slip that might spoil the film for his fans.

“I love cinema. You love cinema. It’s the journey of discovering a story for the first time,” he wrote.

“The cast and crew have worked so hard to create something original, and I only ask that everyone avoids revealing anything that would prevent later audiences from experiencing the film in the same way.”

Its stars, including Australian Margot Robbie who plays tragic actress Sharon Tate murdered by Manson cult members, waved to screaming fans as they left the premiere.

DiCaprio was accompanied by his girlfriend, Argentinean actress Camila Morrone, 21, one of the big discoveries of this year’s festival for her standout performance in the US indie film, “Mickey and the Bear”.

Audiences will have to wait until July to make their minds about “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”, when it will be released in the US. The film is currently slated for release in Thailand on September 12.

An alpine thriller with a romantic subplot, it’s based on a true account of two climbing parties racing to summit the highest peak in the Alps.

Tomorrow it’s “7th Heaven” at 6.30pm, a 1927 American release about a sewer worker who falls in love with a poor woman in Paris during World War I. It was an inspiration for “Sawan Mued” (“Dark Heaven”, 1958) directed by Ratana Pestonji.

At 8.30pm the 1915 crime thriller “Filibus” unspools its tale of a sky pirate wreaking havoc on billionaires and bankers from her airship.

On Sunday at 6.15pm, the Indian picture “Shiraz: A Romance of India” recalls a romantic tragedy involving a 17th-century Mughal ruler and his queen, which resulted in construction of the Taj Mahal.

The festival closes at 8.30pm with “Speedy”, Harold Lloyd’s last silent film, about a baseball-crazy young man in New York who cannot hold a job.

All screening have surtitles in Thai and English.

Tickets cost Bt120, Bt140 and Bt160 at the Scala. Keep up to date at  www.Facebook.com/silentfilmthailand.

As is always the case in May, the French Riviera is awash in stars and fans as the Cannes Film Festival celebrates its 72nd anniversary with a showcase of interesting titles from around the world.

Although only a few Asian titles made it into this year’s selection, there are a couple of big names in the running for the big prize. South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho is back with “Parasite” and Chinese director Diao Yinan, who won the Golden Bear from the Berlin International Film Festival in 2014 with his “Black Coal, Thin Ice” is presenting “The Wild Goose Lake”.

Producer Jeremy Thomas, second right, works with Takashi Miike, left for the fourth time on his latest film “Hatsukoi”, which premiered at the Director’s Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival 2019.

However, one of the most anticipated Asian films in Cannes this year is “Hatsukoi” (“First Love”), the latest work of Takashi Miike. It’s been one of the hits of the Director’s Fortnight, a non-competitive sidebar section of Cannes.

The title “First Love” does nothing to prepare the viewer for the force of the violence. Indeed, it might well be one of the most violent films showing in Cannes this year. It tells the story of Leo (Masataka Kubota), a young boxer in Tokyo who meets Monica (Sakurako Konishi), a call girl with whom he falls in love. After getting involved in drug smuggling, they are forced to spend a long night battling the police, the Yakuza, and assassins sent by Chinese mafia.

Director Takashi Miike and actress Sakurako Konishi at the world premiere of “Hatsukoi” at the Director’s Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival 2019.

“Some people might say I’m bad for putting so much violence into the film, but it’s not me. It is the characters in the film who demand this,” Miike tells The Nation.

As a director who has made many films about the Yakuza, Miike stresses that the gangsters shown in “Hatsukoi” as well as in his other movies, are different from the real-life Yakuza.

“In the old days, I made Yakuza films in a straight to video deal and I conducted my research with real Yakuza. Actually, the Yakuza like the ones you see in the film are difficult to find in society, rather like the samurai who don’t actually exist.

“You might think a movie about the Yakuza is just another violent film, but in fact, there are many diverse parts to the story. And they are all connected. What I try to portray is friendship, and ultimately existence. It’s just that I don’t have my character saying ‘Why am I here?’ I don’t define the film by genre”, he explains.

“I got lots of feedback from the Yakuza community,” he continues. “A Yakuza organisation once submitted a formal complaint to the production company, saying that their boss would never play the piano. We had to take them a bottle of sake as an apology! Nowadays that would be difficult as the law doesn’t permit that kind of thing. However, if you want to shoot in areas controlled by them like, say, Kabukicho in Shinjuku, you will have to contact them anyway or you can’t shoot. You don’t have to pay them, but you have to talk with them beforehand to ask for their permission. In the past we used to pay, but nowadays the film industry doesn’t have the money.”

Miike cast rookie actress Sakurako Konishi to play Monica, the call girl and addict but who also has an innocent side.

“Sakurako has almost zero acting experience. That lack of experience makes her very fresh when she’s in a scene and that’s good as I wanted to make a pure love story. For that reason, it’s important that the audience doesn’t feel any familiarity with the character. All other characters are played by famous actors. Becky, for instance, is a TV personality but she’s been banned from the industry for a while. She plays a bright character and is perfect for that part. She didn’t audition. I wanted her for the role,” says Miike.

Takashi Miike’s latest film “Hatsukoi” (“First Love”) stars first time actress Sakurako Konishi as Monica, a call girl while actor Masataka Kubota play the boxer who falls in love with her.

The actress, a well-known TV personality, is rarely seen these days following the 2016 scandal about her affair with a leading married musician. She was attacked for destroying the man’s family and banned from the entertainment industry.

Famous actor Shota Sometani (“Legend of the Demon Cat” and “Parasyte” Parts 1 and 2), who worked with Miike on 2014’s “As the God Will” plays the Yakuza.

“He doesn’t look like a Yakuza though. In the past you could tell who was in the criminal gang by the way they dressed. Nowadays, it’s much more difficult. The Yakuza has diversified too,” the director says.

Masataka Kubota, who has worked with Miike since he debuted in the TV series “Ketai Sosakan 7” in 2007 was chosen to play the main character.

In Takashi Miike’s latest film “Hatsukoi”, actor Masataka Kubota plays Leo, a young boxer who falls in love with a call girl.

“Ten years ago, I cast him in his first TV series, which I was directing. He became popular over the years but always plays the same type of role. As an actor, I thought he was probably frustrated and it would be good for him to be in this kind of film. No sooner had he finished though that he was back in the morning TV series, doing the same thing all over again!”

“Hatsukoi” is the fourth collaboration between Miike and British producer Jeremy Thomas, who was behind such classics such as “The Last Emperor”, “Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence” and “Naked Lunch”.

“Jeremy respects our way of filmmaking and encourage us to be more free, but during the editing, he is very honest about his opinion. He can’t understand everything in the Japanese context but he tells us what he doesn’t understand, and puts forward his own ideas. He always makes sure that I am the one who chooses. Jeremy is very different from the Hollywood type of producer,” says Miike.

The director has plenty to keep him occupied when he returns to Cannes.

“I am developing many projects, one of them for an American streaming service. But once I go back to Japan after Cannes, I have to shoot a commercial,” he laughs.

Miike, who has been making films from small straight-to-video movies to big-budget productions for almost 30 years, is well aware that he needs to adapt to the new era of streaming.

“Cannes as a film festival has a history. You can see where it is coming from [in not permitting entry to Netflix]. But you also know that things change all the time. The way we see films changes as well.

“Me, I am going to change with the times as well.”