The flightless angry birds and scheming green piggies of the upcoming “The Angry Birds Movie 2” did just that for the cameras. Faced with a new avian costar/antagonist and armed with their signature slingshot, birds and pigs joined forces to fling a willing hatchling as part of a photo call this afternoon at the Carlton Hotel’s iconic pier.

Star Josh Gad (“Chuck”), producer John Cohen, and director Thurop Van Orman took the opportunity to unveil a new scene from the anticipated sequel, which will roll out globally starting in August through October.

“It’s so cool to finally get to come to Cannes, especially for a movie I’m so proud of,” said Van Orman. “…and what a sendoff, literally!”

 Added Cohen, “Josh and I were here right before the premiere of the first film, in 2016, and that launched us to open at number one in 52 territories around the world. Now that Angry Birds is established as a film property, we’re super excited to expand on the narrative and really have fun.”

Gad, Cohen, and Van Orman were joined onstage by some of the movie’s international star talent, including Sergey Burunov, who voices “Leonard” in Russia; Enzo Knol and Irma Knol, as Holland’s “Chuck” and “Bomb’s Mom,” respectively; and Sonia Plakidyuk, playing “Fuchsia” in Ukraine.

The flightless angry birds and the scheming green piggies take their beef to the next level in “The Angry Birds Movie 2” when a new threat emerges that puts both Bird and Pig Island in danger, Red (Jason Sudeikis), Chuck (Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride), and Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage) recruit Chuck’s sister Silver (Rachel Bloom) and team up with pigs Leonard (Bill Hader), his assistant Courtney (Awkwafina), and techpig Garry (Sterling K Brown) to forge an unsteady truce and form an unlikely superteam to save their homes.

Maryam Touzani has never forgotten the day a young woman knocked on the door of her home in Tangier asking for work.

“She was from a village and she was heavily pregnant. My mother had no work for her but was afraid to let her go… she wasn’t in a good way and had clearly nowhere to go,” the Moroccan actress and director says.

Sex outside marriage is illegal in the Muslim-majority country, and at the time a single mother who tried to give birth in a hospital would be thrown in jail.

“The girl had been going door-to-door, so my mother took her in for a few days until we worked something out.

“But there was no solution – she had been going from town to town after running away from her family, working as a cleaner and hairdresser until people noticed her predicament and then she would have to move on.

Maryam Touzani, centre, poses with actresses Lubna Azabal, left, and Nisrin Erradi, right, the stars of her film “Adam”. 

“So she stayed with us until she had the baby,” adds Touzani, whose powerful new film “Adam”, at the Cannes film festival, was inspired by the woman’s heartbreaking dilemma over what to do with the child.

“She wanted to give up her baby straight away to give him a chance of a decent life, and to restart her own and become a respectable woman again,” Touzani recalls.

But when the baby arrived, things weren’t so simple.

“Because she gave birth over a bank holiday weekend, she had to keep the baby until the adoption office opened. I was with her as she tried to suppress the maternal extinct, to put distance between herself and the child. It was painful to watch and really shook me.

“Little by little I saw her resistance break and the pain grow as the bank holiday drew to an end. I went with her to give the baby up,” Touzani says.

Moroccan director Maryam Touzani 

The hell that woman went through came home to when she became pregnant herself shooting “Razzia”, a huge hit in the kingdom in 2017, which she wrote and starred in.

“When I felt the baby move inside me I began thinking of her and I understood. And straight away I started to write, it poured out of me…”

Already talked of as an Oscars foreignlanguage contender, “Adam” shines a light on a hidden woman’s world in the conservative North African country.

Critics at Cannes hailed how the first-time director turned this “deceptively simple story… into gold” with the Hollywood Reporter praising its “great delicacy… made heartrending by the superb performances of Lubna Azabal and Nisrin Erradi.”

In the film, a village girl who flees to Casablanca played by Erradi is reluctantly taken in by a widowed baker (Azabal) hiding her own grief.

While Touzani does not go there in her touching, intimate tale, unmarried mothers are complete pariahs in Morocco, she says, often regarded as prostitutes.

“It is the worst thing that can happen to a woman.”

Until 2004 their children’s birth could not even be registered, meaning they have no legal status. “They simply didn’t exist,” she explains.

The shame is so intense that “children are often sold or abandoned”, adding to the country’s army of street children.

“There are so many terrible stories,” Touzani says.

The writer-director has not shied from touching on raw nerves in her homeland.

Her husband Nabil Ayouch’s banned feature “Much Loved” was based on a documentary of the same name she made about prostitution.

It was branded “an affront to moral values and Moroccan women” shortly after its premiere at Cannes, with actress Loubna Abidar forced to flee to France after being attacked in the street in Casablanca.

“Razzia”, in which Touzani played the lead, also touched on taboos.

But she is convinced many who condemned the films in public were secretly pleased they had brought issues out into the open that Morocco needs to deal with.

“There is a facade that everything is all right on the outside even if people are tormented inside. It is good to let in some air and light, and people are relieved and happy things are being spoken about.”

“I am not at all afraid for ‘Adam’. In any case, nothing comes from fear.”

“Southeast Asian cinema is poised to become an important player in the international film industry. Ming-Jung brings on board her passion for Asian cinema and discovering new directors, which complements our current team and will allow us to shape the next chapter of SGIFF as we enter into our 30th edition. We would also like to thank Pimpaka for her contribution to the festival and championing new developmental programmes with us, such as the Southeast Asian Producers Network, to bolster the regional film scene,” says the festival’s executive director Yuni Hadi.

Ming-Jung was the programme director at Taipei Film Festival from 2014 to 2018. She has served on several juries and selection panels including at Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Locarno Film Festival. Meanwhile, Pimpaka will continue to lend her expertise as one of the festival’s programme consultants.

“SGIFF is an anchor festival in the region where the best and budding Southeast Asian talents gather to exchange ideas, deliberate and share their voice through cinematic works. I continue to be inspired by the community’s openness to collaborate, its camaraderie, and the beautiful stories told as a result of this unique spirit. I look forward to working closely with the SGIFF team to contribute and grow the ecosystem in my new role,” says Ming-Jung.

Now in its 30th edition, the festival also announced its shortlist of seven compelling short films and documentaries from Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, which will receive its inaugural SGIFF Film Fund. Comprising Tan Ean Kiam Foundation-SGIFF Southeast Asian Documentary Grant (SEADOC) and SGIFF Southeast Asian Short Film Grant (SEASHORTS), the fund will help support the development and production of these stories to build the region’s portfolio.

The shortlists include “Some Women” by Quenyee Wong (Singapore), “68” by Tan Biyun (Singapore), “Aswang” by Alyx Ayn Arumpac (Philippines), “Ploy” by Prapat Jiwarangsan (Thailand), “Judy Free” by Che Tagyamon (Philippines), “Binh” by Ostin Fam (Vietnam), and “Nursery Rhymes” by Michael Kam (Singapore).

The festival continues its commitment to grow the independent film ecosystem in Southeast Asia through the introduction of the SGIFF Film Academy. It will bring together the festival developmental programmes such as Mentorship, Southeast Asian Producers Network, Southeast Asian Film Lab, and Youth Jury & Critics.

Veteran producer and transmedia filmmaker, Michel Reilhac, will take on the role as Head Mentor for the 2019 Southeast Asian Film Lab. He will work alongside two Lab Mentors – Hong Kong film producer, Teresa Kwong and Thai film editor, Lee Chatametikool. This year’s Youth Jury & Critics Programme will be led by Thai film critic, Kong Rithdee.

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 until August 19.

For more information, visit http://www.Sgiff.com.

Disney began its successful Aladdin franchise with an animated feature film of the same name that starred legendary comedian Robin Williams and featured such memorable songs as “A Whole New World” and “Friend Like Me”. The film grossed more than US$502 million in worldwide box office revenue, which led to successful stage productions on Broadway and abroad. Twenty-seven years later, Disney is now set to bring the magic and adventure on the flying carpet back again with its release of Disney’s Aladdin (2019), a thrilling and vibrant live-action adaptation of the animated classic. This article has a glimpse of the new magical spells awaiting to unfold to moviegoers in theatres.

Here are five magical elements awaiting in the new version of Aladdin.

Magic 1: Latest appearance of a Disney Princess

The new on-screen presence of Jasmine (Naomi Scott) will keep the audience spellbound with her beauty in gorgeous makeup and more than 10 wonderful costumes designed by Michael Wilkinson. Among the highlights not featured in the animated film are a bright pink corset dress with gold-and-turquoise details and an extravagant pumpkin-orange dress paired with a cape in coral with gold-and-magenta embroidery. In addition to Jasmine’s stunning costumes, makeup and hairstyles, director Guy Ritchie made sure that the princess truly connects with her modern-day audience through contemporary interpretation and portrayal of this character, including her attitudes against arranged marriage and the convention that a princess shall only marry a prince.

Magic No. 2: Genie’s Magical Power to Grant Wishes

The magical elements that have previously captivated fans in the animated film will blow everyone’s imagination again in this live-action version, ranging from the magic lamp and the rides on the flying carpet through to the power of the blue Genie, played by Will Smith, to grant three wishes. Smith pays homage to Robin Williams’ flawless performance in the original 1992 film while still making the role his in this new version. In addition, he has honed many of his performing skills to top up this live-action Genie with top-class acting, singing and dancing skills, including rapping.

Magic No. 3: Full Host of Visual Effects Brings Agrabah to Life

Disney’s live-action films are renowned for their true-to-life quality in every aspect of production, and this live-action Disney’s Aladdin is no exception. Almost every type of visual effect work was utilised, including character animation, performance capture, set extensions, digital environments and FX simulations. In addition to a massive Agrabah set built outdoors at a filming studio in London, the film was shot on location amidst the stunning desert vistas of Jordan, with robust support of a talented creative team to bring Agrabah to life, including director of photography Alan Stewart and production designer Gemma Jackson (Game of Thrones).

Magic No. 4: “A Whole New World” Will Brighten Up People’s Hearts

“A Whole New World” from 1992 won the original Disney’s Aladdin the 65th Academy Award for Best Original Song and the 36th Annual Grammy Awards for Song of the Year. The song continues to be a top hit worldwide. In the 2019 live-action adaptation, Disney has worked with first-class music crew to create songs that will brighten up the world anew. Eight-time Academy Award -winning composer Alan Menken provides the score, which includes new recordings of the original songs written by Menken and Oscar-winning lyricists Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and includes two new songs written by Menken, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Thai fans can also look forward to hearing this beautiful song in a Thai version, too.

Magic No. 5: A Classic Rich in Comedy, Romance and Action-packed Adventure

Disney has recreated this live-action adaptation based on the original animated film scene by scene. The Cave of Wonders, the Sultan’s palace, the lavish parade of “Prince Ali” and the scene when Aladdin takes Jasmine on a night ride on the magic carpet above the sky of Agrabah, among others, will bring back fresh memory of the animated classic.

Besides its four main characters, Genie, Aladdin, Jasmine, and Jafar, the 2019 film features an addition of new, lively characters including Dalia (Nasim Pedrad) as Jasmine’s handmaiden and the girlfriend she confides in, as well as Prince Anders (Billy Magnussen) and Jafar’s right-hand man, Hakim (Numan Acar).

The blood-spattered tale of noble families vying for the Iron Throne has just one episode to go and buzz is at fever pitch for a ratings juggernaut that has demolished audience records like a Dothraki barbarian finishing off a skillet of horse meat.

“We want people to love it. It matters a lot to us. We’ve spent 11 years doing this,” Dan Weiss, who directed the 73rd and final episode with fellow showrunner David Benioff, told Entertainment Weekly.

While many will watch at home, perhaps with a goblet of Dornish red wine and a punnet of Braavosi cockles, thousands will celebrate and mourn the show’s denouement at viewing parties in bars, banqueting halls and backyards from Alaska to Armenia.

One of the darkest and most controversial primetime series ever made, “GoT” has been the target of criticism over the years for senseless violence and its repeated use of rape as a dramatic device.

Hacked, burned, flayed 

The scriptwriters have brutalized women, killed children, depicted graphic sex and had their characters hacked, stabbed, flayed, poisoned, decapitated, burned alive, eye-gouged and eviscerated — all in glorious close-up.

Even principal character Jon Snow (Kit Harington), whose fellow Night’s Watch troops would chant “And now his watch is ended” at comrades’ funerals, suffered the indignity of being briefly dead after a particularly violent quarrel.

The adult themes have not deterred fans, however, nor the industry itself, which has seen fit to make it the most decorated series in history, with 47 Emmy Awards.

Airing in 170 countries under its portentous tagline, “Winter is Coming,” the show is also the most expensive ever, with a budget of $15 million per episode in its final run.

The season seven finale set an all-time US record for premium cable TV with 16.5 million people watching live or streaming on the day of transmission and 15 million more tuning in later.

Viewing records also tumbled across the world, with Britain’s Sky Atlantic and OCS in France showing episodes in the middle of the night in sync with their US premieres.

Season six was the first to move beyond the source material, George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels, and carve its own path.

Critics said it marked a return to form, with the narrative allowing female characters to demonstrate complexity and moral agency lacking in some of the earlier seasons.

The shortened final two seasons have been more of a mixed bag, with many fans furious over what they consider poor writing.

Mass-murdering madness 

Most controversial has been the rapid descent into mass-murdering madness by Emilia Clarke’s fan favorite Daenerys Targaryen, arguably the lead character in an enormous ensemble that has called on the services of such luminaries as Charles Dance, Sean Bean, Jim Broadbent and Diana Rigg.

A Change.org petition called “Remake Game of Thrones Season 8 with competent writers” had passed one million signatures with more than 24 hours to go until Sunday’s finale.

Assuming there is no do-over, the biggest mystery of all remains who will be sitting on the Iron Throne and ruling Westeros when “Game of Thrones” comes to an end.

To throw hackers and pirates off the scent, Benioff and Weiss shot several versions of the final episode, a tactic already used for “The Sopranos” and “Breaking Bad.”

Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, has admitted that even she was fooled into believing a fake version of the ending.

Martin will himself discover the on-screen ending of his long-running masterwork before he has had a chance to conclude the fantasy on paper.

The plot lines for his long-awaited final two novels in the series — “The Winds of Winter” and “A Dream of Spring” — were adapted to the screen based on outlines Martin gave the show’s writers. But there is no guarantee they will stick to his plan.

“Obviously, I wished I finished these books sooner so the show hadn’t gotten ahead of me. I never anticipated that,” Martin once told an interviewer.

The “Game of Thrones” finale premieres on HBO at 9:00 pm in the US on both coasts (0100 GMT and 0400 GMT).

“It’s hard to watch the family stuff. The drugs stuff I can handle because I did it, but the family stuff is touching,” he told Variety in an interview on the warts-and-all movie about his wild rock ‘n’ roll years.

The film won an extended standing ovation in Cannes, with critics hailing its honesty and the way it deals frankly with the British singer’s struggles with drugs, alcohol and his own sexuality.

“Part of the reason I became the addict that I was (was) because of my background,” said the 72-year-old megastar.

“I really value the fact that (my parents) stayed together for me when they were unhappy with each other…. I’ve come to understand the circumstances that they went through and I’m not angry or bitter about that whatsoever,” he said.

“But it did leave a scar and that scar took a long time to heal, and maybe it will never heal totally.”

John had a much-publicised eight-year feud with his formidable mother Shelia Farebrother, who he accused of trying to interfere in his life, but they buried the hatchet just before her death at the age of 92 in 2017.

An only child, John was raised by his grandparents until he was six before moving in with his parents. They divorced when he was 14.

The movie also explores the singer’s long and successful songwriting partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin, which produced seven consecutive US number one albums between 1972 and 1975.

“The wonderful thing is the relationship I have with Bernie, which is the glue of the movie,” the singer said.

“We’ve been together for over 50 years and to have this relationship being so strong… means a lot in this kind of business that we work in.”

Peopled by sometimes-awkward geeks making physics references, “The Big Bang Theory”, whose finale episode aired last night, seemed destined at first to appeal to a niche audience.

But as the show reaches its conclusion, it has become one of the most-watched series in the world.

Focused on whether characters Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah-Fowler will win the Nobel prize, the show is going out on top as it wrapped up its 12th and final season.

The show, which airs on US network CBS, has carved its place at the top of American television, with more than 12 million live viewers for much of the most-recent season (17 million when including delayed watchers) – similar levels to “Game of Thrones”.

According to research firm Parrot, “Big Bang” was one of the five most popular shows in the world last year, a streak CBS would have been happy to continue – were it not for Sheldon actor Jim Parsons having announced he would leave the show after the 12th season.

The cast from the television comedy series “The Big Bang Theory”, from left, Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch, place their hands into two blocks of cement at a Handprint Ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

For producer and writer Stephen Engel, who worked on it at the beginning of its run, “Big Bang” owes much of its success to the annoying-but-loveable character.

“It was a serendipitous blending of a character and an actor that was just magic,” he says.

Depicting a brilliant scientist who is socially clueless, Sheldon’s portrayal was “just a perfect marriage of point of view, jokes, voice and actor that made that character jump off the screen,” Engel adds.

But Sheldon’s charm alone can’t explain how a series that wasn’t critically acclaimed or even breaking into the top 50 most-popular at the end of its first season went on to run longer than American sitcom classics like “Friends”, “The Cosby Show” and “Seinfeld”.

According to conventional wisdom, it was series’ depiction of characters like Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj as proud geeks – obsessed with TV series, video games and obscure sub-genre interests – that allowed for its longevity.

Long associated with niche interests, geek, or nerd, culture has made its way into the mainstream, thanks to sagas like “The Lord of the Rings”, “Star Wars”, “Game of Thrones” and others, meaning there was a growing audience that could feel an affinity with the characters.

“There was a tendency in the wake of ‘Friends’ to just to put as many good looking people in a room as possible and just hope people would look at them and just want to watch the show. ‘Big Bang Theory’ just decided because they were nerds, we can get the funniest actors we can find,” Engel says. “They don’t have to be handsome.”

Though “The Big Bang Theory” differs from most shows in its popularity and subject matter, the series still relies on a variety of tried-and-true sitcom conventions: the episodes, shot on multiple cameras, are made up of a series of punchlines interspersed by a laugh track, some of it edited in later (the show is filmed in front of a studio audience).

The end of the series, which coincides with the end of ABC’s “Modern Family”, which will finish with its 11th season next year, marks the end of an era for the genre.

Sitcoms on traditional networks, such as “Big Bang” spinoff “Young Sheldon”, and “Mom,” also the work of “Big Bang” creator Chuck Lorre, just don’t bring in the same audience numbers.

And Netflix has tried its hand at the format, with “Fuller House” and “One Day at a Time”, though neither will be returning after the end of the year. By 2020, the classic sitcom will be absent from nearly every major streaming platform, including Amazon and Hulu.

“I’ve lived in many periods in this business where people have said: the sitcom is dying,” says Stan Zimmerman, who worked on “Roseanne” as a producer and writer. “And then it somehow comes roaring back.”

Coupled with the decline of the traditional sitcom, the fragmentation of audiences means there is concern that universal series, capable of capturing the attention of large swaths of the public, like “The Big Bang Theory” or even “Game of Thrones” was able to do, is gone.

“I think it’s wonderful that we are being so diverse in the programming and the voices that we are hearing and we just need to have more of that,” said Zimmerman, who is working on a show called “Silver Foxes”, a comedy centred on ageing gay men.

But he says he wouldn’t count out watercooler series just yet.

“There’s still room for a big, general-audience show that everybody could sit and watch and laugh and talk about the next day at work,” he says. “There’s room for everything now.”

The Cannes film festival opened Tuesday with one of the glitziest lineups in years as Hollywood stars and studios return in strength to the world’s biggest film jamboree.

Spanish star Javier Bardem and French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg declared the 12-day marathon open, before sitting down to watch the first movie – “The Dead Don’t Die” – with it’s small army of A-list stars led by Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloe Sevigny, Tilda Swinton and pop idol Selena Gomez.

The cast of the zombie flick sendup of Donald Trump’s America by arthouse favourite Jim Jarmusch also takes in Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover and music legends Iggy Pop, Tom Waits and WuTang Clan guru RZA.

Having watched its Tinseltown thunder stolen in recent years by Venice, which US studios have used as their Oscars launchpad, this time Cannes is putting its much smaller rival back in its place.

Quentin Tarantino brings auteur heft and star power to the party with the premiere of his epic “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, a quarter of a century after he lifted the Palme d’Or – Cannes top prize – for “Pulp Fiction”.

US singer and actress Selena Gomez, left, and British actress and model Tilda Swinton talk with US film director Jim Jarmusch as they arrive for the screening of the film “The Dead Don’t Die.”

The panorama of Charles Mansonera Los Angeles stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a television Westerns star and Brad Pitt as his stunt double. Margot Robbie also appears as actress Sharon Tate, who was murdered by the cult leader’s followers.

Almost as big a coup was persuading Elton John to launch his wartsandall musical biopic “Rocketman” on the Croisette out of competition, with festival director Thierry Fremaux hinting that the singer will perform on his grand piano at the premiere.

The screening tonight is the first big blockbuster event at the festival, where Sylvester Stallone will also unveil a teaser for “Rambo V: Last Blood”.

Another headline-grabber, soccer legend Diego Maradona, is sure to create a stir when he turns up for a documentary on his rollercoaster career by the maker of the Oscar-winning “Amy”.

The festival has sparked controversy by giving a prize to veteran French star Alain Delon, with the Women and Hollywood group saying honouring a man who has admitted to hitting women “sucks”.

Tempers also flared after French taxi drivers protesting about online ridehailing rivals blocked traffic at nearby Nice airport, holding up movie movers and shakers trying to reach Cannes.

Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who heads the jury that will pick the Palme d’Or winner, also struck a political note Tuesday by condemning populist leaders like Trump, but without naming names.

“The world is melting and these guys are ruling with rage and anger and lies and making people believe that they are facts,” he told reporters.

“This is a dangerous thing we are returning to, to 1939,” he added, referring to World War II. “We know how this story ends if we keep with this rhetoric.”

Analysts, meanwhile, were upbeat about this year’s offerings.

“That Cannes has managed to get ‘Rocketman’ is a very big coup because Paramount was historically one of the studios who were the most reluctant to show films at the festival,” said Christian Jungen, author of the book “Hollywood in Cannes”.

Studios have often been reluctant to risk their big-budget productions, fearful of a savaging from critics. Cannes got “Rocketman” thanks to Fremaux’s friendship with Paramount boss Jim Gianopulos, Jungen said, who was head of Fox when it took “Moulin Rouge” to the Croisette in 2001.

It’s precious breathing space for the festival, which is stuck in a standoff with Netflix over the streaming giant’s refusal to release its films in French cinemas.

Yet Netflix has far from turned its back on Cannes.

Jerome Paillard, the head of the festival’s vast market, where deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars are done, said it has sent a team of around 25 buyers and executives.

“More than ever the whole world comes to Cannes, particularly the Americans. They are still the biggest group overall, and their numbers remain stable,” Paillard said.

Even so, the last big Cannes Oscar success was the comedy “The Artist” in 2012, which won five gongs after being premiered on the Croisette.

Fremaux – who had only two US films in the main competition last year – claimed that Cannes is above “this general obsession about the Oscars”.

The festival, which calls itself the “Olympics of film”, is “about world cinema”, he said, and giving a platform to new voices and auteurs.

 Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya will preside over the event, which is dubbed “Thailand – Where Films Come Alive” and which this year celebrates the achievements of “Creative Thai” talent.

Thai Night is presented as part of the programme to support and promote Thailand’s film industry in international markets.

“Creative Thai” vision can be found in many different areas of the film industry, including production, post-production, facilities, production services, and visual effects, the department says.

“Creative Thai” skills and talent are seen both in front of and behind the camera. Since 2001 when “Fah Talai Jone” (‘Tears of the Black Tiger’) became the first Thai film to be screened at Cannes, Thailand has had a strong presence at the Cannes Film Festival.

Thai Night offers a chance to meet Thai filmmakers and representatives of the Thai film industry, including distributors, production service companies, and production facilities. In addition to the Thai Night, the Department will also host a dedicated Thailand Pavilion at the Marche du Film on Palais Level -1 Booth 22.01.

Twelve leading production, distribution, and service companies will be represented. Promotional events at Cannes and other international markets are just part of a policy of governmental support and promotion for the digital content industry.

The Department says it is committed to supporting the filmed entertainment, animation, character licensing, software and games industry, in order to develop and fulfil its potential in the international market. The digital content industry has become an increasingly important industry in Thailand, and is expected to generate revenue of more than US$900 million (Bt28.48 billion) in 2019.