The first week of October sees filmmakers from all over Asia and other parts of the globe descend on South Korea to participate in the Busan International Film Festival, Asia’s biggest movie event.

Many titles from Thailand were screened in the recently ended 2018 edition, among them Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s “Manta Ray” and the anthology “Ten Years Thailand”, both making their Asian debut, plus Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s ‘BNK 48: Girls Don’t Cry’ and the newly restored version of Cherd Songsri’s 1977 classic “The Scar”.

Another two Thai films also had their international premieres in Busan. “The Stain”, the new short by Nuntanat Duangtisarn, was shown in the Wide Angle Asian Short Film Competition, while “Nakorn-Sawan”, the debut feature of young female filmmaker Puangsoi “Rose” Aksornsawang screened out of competition in the A Window on Asian Cinema section.

“Nakorn-Sawan”, Rose’s thesis film for her master’s degree at the University of the Arts Hamburg, is produced by veteran filmmaker Anocha Suwichakornpong and Purin Pictures.

A graduate of Chulalongkorn University’s Communication Arts faculty, Rose worked as an assistant director on a few Thai independent films including Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s “36” and Sopawan Boonnimitra and Peerachai Kerdsint’s “The Isthmus” before going to Germany to learn more about arts and filmmaking.

“I wanted to study abroad. I was accepted into many schools, but unfortunately the tuition fees were very high at all of them. Finally I was accepted by a German university that gives scholarships to Southeast Asian students,” Rose tells XP.

“I first went to study in Bremen, which is an art school, but the course wasn’t really what I wanted. However film schools in Germany are quite conventional, and require German language skills, which made admission difficult. While I was there, I saw a film directed by Angela Schanelec, who teaches at University of the Arts Hamburg. I sent my portfolio to the professor there, and I was accepted,” she explains.

Rose went on to study with Schanelec, a well-known filmmaker whose 1998 film “Places in Cities” was screened in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes Film Festival, and whose latest work “The Dream of Path” was in competition at the 2016 Locarno Film Festival.

Rose’s success is all the more remarkable given that she did not expect to become a filmmaker. “I actually wanted a career in advertising,” she laughs. “But by studying film, I understood that what I really wanted was to tell stories through visuals,” she says.

Film students at Chulalongkorn’s Communication Arts faculty hold the annual “Gangjor” festival to showcase their thesis shorts or features. Rose’s film was screened at the 18th Gangjor in 2011, and later won her an award that would shape her career as a filmmaker. “My short film called ‘Swimming Pool’ won the Vichitmatra Award and the White Elephant Award from Thai Short Film and Video Festival. It gave me hope that I could carve out a niche for myself.

“During Gangjor, we invite filmmakers like Anocha and Lee Chatametikool to act as mentors. Nawapol is also one of the mentors. My job was to collect the films and send them to the mentors, so they could watch the films before the actual screening. That’s how I got to know Nawapol. I met him again after I graduated and he asked me if I wanted to help him make his feature film.”

Rose readily agreed and that film – “36” – was one of the surprise hits of 2012, cementing Nawapol’s place in the ranks of best-known young Thai filmmakers.

“After the success of ‘36’, people knew my name and other directors contacted me to work with them,” says Rose.

“I was very homesick during my time in Germany. I would regularly contact my mother and started collecting the photos that my mother sent thinking that maybe I should turn them into something. That led to my decision to make a film about myself through my family’s story.

“I submitted this project to the Southeast Asian Film Lab at Singapore International Film Festival in 2016. Back then, it was called ‘Rahula’.”

Rahula is based on the name of the only son of the Buddha though also means “impediment”.

“The film would have a documentary part in which I recorded my mother and my father, as well as a fictional part about my family, which I developed from a photo of my parents holding hands. Sadly, just after I had finished the casting, my mother was taken into hospital.”

Rose’s mother died not longer afterwards. Traumatised, she dropped the project and went back to Germany.

“Then I was asked to write a short story. The act of writing made me think that I should try to develop it into a film and include all the footage I had collected.”

As originally planned, “Nakorn-Sawan” is part fiction and part documentary. In the fictional part, we see the main character Aoey (Prapamonton Eiamchan) boarding the boat with her father to scatter her mother’s ashes into the river at Pak Nam Po. In the documentary part of the film, we watch the videos made of the director’s father and mother.

Actress Prapamonton and actor Phumipat Thavornsiri attended the screening of “Nakorn-Sawan” and the Q&A session that followed. Feedback was good and Rose says she was relieved.

“It went much better than I thought. I was not sure about the result of my film, but after the Q&A, I could see that many members of the audience had related to it. There was an American soldier who came to see the film because he read the synopsis and found it interesting. He later talked to me about himself and his mother and how they don’t live together.”

“Nakorn-Sawan” is now all set to screen at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival before going off on the film festival circuit.

It is slated for release in Thailand next year.

After Hollywood studio Universal Pictures was reported acquiring the rights to make a movie about the Tham Luang cave rescue, the Culture Ministry is insisting that no such rights have been granted to anyone.

Culture Minister Vira Rojpojanarat said on Wednesday that the “Creative Media Panel” the government established for the purpose would hold an open call from November 15-23 for submissions for rights to make movies about the cave drama, as well as for depictions in all other media.

Several Hollywood-based and Thai studios were swift to pitch plans for feature and documentary films about the cave rescue, with games-makers joining in the frenzy to depict an event that caught the world’s attention.

Vira said the government was “representing” the 12 youngsters rescued from the Chiang Rai cave, along with their coach and their parents, to protect their intellectual property rights. The panel, set up in July, has officials from the culture, tourism, foreign affairs and human development ministries and reputable figures from the Thai film industry.

To date there are 22 movies, a TV series, animated games, music videos and books in the works, Vira said. Five foreign film studios and five in Thailand are proposing feature movies and 10 documentary projects have been touted by companies at home and abroad. Three projects involve books and music videos, and Thai and foreign news media have extended invitations to the boys and their coach to be interviewed on 27 different TV programmes.

Vira said local moviemakers could make their pitches to his Culture Ministry, while foreigners have to submit their proposals to the Tourism and Sport Ministry. The Creative Media Panel is also tasked with screening the information flow to and from the boys and safeguarding both their privacy and the country’s image. Once rights are granted to specific film projects, it will also oversee production.

The panel will help the families negotiate contracts with foreign studios, Vira said, with careful attention paid to their intellectual property rights. The restrictions on rights do not apply to the use of information already in the public domain, he said. Vira did not name any studios interested in the Mu Pa story, but it was widely reported that Universal Pictures had sealed a deal with the boys and their coach, Ekkaphol Chantawong, as well as Australian cave divers Dr Richard Harris and Craig Challen.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Universal had offered $1.5 million (Bt49 million) to be split among the boys and Ekkaphol. It listed Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca as producers, a duo previously associated with box-office hits “Fifty Shades of Grey”, “Captain Phillips” and “The Social Network”.

Despite the report, panel members have insisted that no studio had as yet been granted the rights to produce a film about the cave rescue. Ekkaphol has also been quoted as saying he has accepted no such deal. “But we are not sure if Universal Pictures bought the rights from the Australian divers,” panel spokesman Lt-General Weerachon Sukondhapati-pak said.

At least three other major foreign studios have expressed interest in producing movies. De Warrenne Productions, headed by Thai-Irish producer-director Tom Waller, recently announced plans for a movie titled “The Cave”. He was looking for distributors at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was Waller who made the award-winning films “Mindfulness and Murder” and “The Last Executioner”.

Pure Flix managing partner Michael Scott and co-producer Adam Smith interviewed people around the cave in the immediate aftermath of the rescue in early July. Their firm is known for Christian-theme movies like “Do You Believe?” and the “God’s Not Dead” series and they hope to focus on the inspirational aspects of the rescue operation. “Now You See Me 2” director Jon M Chu and Ivanhoe Pictures meanwhile announced they were teaming up for a movie about the incident. “There’s a beautiful story here about human beings saving other human beings,” Chu said on Twitter.

The cave rescue drama that began on June 23 held people across the world spellbound as efforts to locate the Wild Boar team were repeatedly stymied by rising water levels and strong currents. Thai Navy Seals, joined by a slew of foreign professional divers including Australians Challen and Harris, coordinated the complicated operation. One former Navy Seal, Lt-Commander Saman Kunan, lost his life in the operation. The boys and their coach were all safely extracted by July 10.

The film will be screened tomorrow (October 20) at 4pm at TK Park.

Directed by Philippe Falardeu, the story is set in icy winter at a Montreal elementary school, and has a shock opening with the unexpected suicide of a popular teacher. The young students are deeply affected, the staff try to help them out, while the Principal looks desperately for a replacement. That’s when the pleasant Bachir Lazhar walks in.

He’s an Algerian immigrant, who says he has plenty of teaching experience and proceeds to start taking classes almost immediately. The rest of the film portrays the bitter-sweet moments, as Bachir tries to forge a relationship with his young students, in particular, two youngsters– the traumatised Simon, who thinks he’s responsible for the teacher’s suicide, and Alice, who becomes his favourite pupil.

The icy winter outside is a sharp contrast to the warmth of emotions in the classroom where with the barriers from culture to education and age, it is a learning experience for both the Canadian students and their Algerian teacher.

What the students don’t know, is that Bachir has suffered a great loss himself.

The movie offers many insights into the problems of migrants and is a heart-warming portrait of Canada’s diverse and inclusive society.

The film-event is supported by the Canadiaa, who will serve snacks and drinks, after the screening. Ambassador Donica Pottie, will introduce the movie.

The Film Auditorium will open at 3pm and the entry fee is Bt20. For reservation, please visit https://goo.gl/forms/cGinYtJ8iM2r3pP92 or email filmforum17@gmail.com.

 The English language series chronicles the story of a group of unlikely individuals who lead a rebellion against a brutal governor and suddenly find themselves in control of a Dutch garrison town called Grisse. The story revolves around a number of unique characters, each from diverse backgrounds and creeds who unite for the chance to break the yoke of tyranny and write their own destiny.

“Grisse” premieres on Sunday, November 4 at 8pm exclusively on HBO with new episodes showing at the same time every Sunday. The series will also be available on HBO GO via AIS PLAY and AIS PLAYBOX.

Developed and produced by HBO Asia together with Singapore-based Infinite Studios, “Grisse” will feature an ensemble cast of actors who are based in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Europe, Australia and the US. They include Adinia Wirasti (HBO Asia’s “Halfworlds Season 1”), Marthino Lio (“Sayang You Can Dance”), Michael Wahr (“City Homocide”), Edward Akbar (“Air Terjun Pengantin”), Jamie Aditya (“Sync or Swim”) and Toshiji Takeshima (HBO’s “True Blood”).

HBO has also recently announced that select HBO Asia Original productions will be available to audiences in HBO Europe’s territories. These HBO Asia Original titles include “Grisse”, the horror anthology series “Folklore”, Japanese drama series “Miss Sherlock” and the first two instalments of the Chinese language martial arts anthology movie series, “Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So and “Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-ying”. These titles will be available in territories including Spain (on HBO Espana), Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark (on HBO Nordic), and in Central European territories including Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Croatia (on HBO Europe). “Grisse” will also be available to HBO’s US subscribers across the channel’s platforms.