After a five-year hiatus, the festival is back with the theme “Return to Cinema”.
Guests at the launch included film industry executives and politicians, as well as celebrities like Mom Rajawongse Chalermchatri Yukol, Khemanit “Pancake” Jamikorn, Sarah Casinghini, and Miss Mimosa Queen Thailand.
The Nation selected a number of photos from the red carpet to the opening ceremony inside a theatre.
Five-year wait ends as region’s premiere film festival returns to Bangkok
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 03, 2022
The five-year wait for the 15th World Film Festival of Bangkok ended last night with a lively ceremony followed by a screening of “Stone Turtle”, the latest film by Malaysian New Wave director Ming Jin Woo.
More than 60 films from 51 countries will vie for attention and acclaim during the 10-day celebration of global cinema in Bangkok.
The revival of the festival after a five-year hiatus was a cooperative effort led by Nation Group in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Thai Media Fund, SF Corporation, and Thai Airways International.
Nation Group CEO Shine Bunnag said the festival would project Thailand’s soft power, which would help develop the country’s economy.
Moreover, he said sponsorship of the festival showed that The Nation goes “beyond journalism” by providing more than news.
Festival director Donsaron Kovitvanitcha said he was glad to see everyone return for the festival after five years.
He thanked Nation Group for its role in reviving the festival and said it was drawing global interest. Donsaron also hoped the festival would help put Thai filmmakers in the international spotlight.
Deputy Bangkok Governor Sanon Wangsrangboon said the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) was eager to support the festival because it shows the world that Thailand has reopened.
Sanon also spoke about the economic benefits of the festival and cinema in general. The festival attracts visitors to Thailand and films encourage people to spend, which helps develop the creative economy, Sanon explained.
He noted that the BMA had appointed a committee to develop the creative economy and its first decision was to launch an open-air movie festival in Bangkok.
The BMA is also encouraging directors to make more films in Bangkok to raise the city’s onscreen profile, Sanon said.
Minister of Culture Itthiphol Kunplome said his ministry would continue to support the festival as part of its effort to raise the profile of the Thai film industry globally.
Politicians from competing parties united to praise the festival.
Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat said he was pleased that the festival had returned as the country reopens and the film industry becomes active again.
Pita noted that freedom of expression is necessary for the creativity required for innovation. If freedom of expression is blocked, it will prevent the economy from developing, he added.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the rising star of the Pheu Thai party, also praised the festival’s return.
She said it was impressive that the festival included small films and that ticket prices were inexpensive. She also said the festival was an opportunity to expand Thailand’s soft power.
Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew thanked Nation Group, the Ministry of Culture, filmmakers and producers for working together to revive the festival.
He said his party focused on increasing Thailand’s soft power to create more opportunities and generate more revenue.
The 15th World Film Festival of Bangkok runs until December 11 at SF World Cinema, Central World.
‘Don’t let Tavee grab the mic’: Thai beauty queen arrives for Miss International
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 01, 2022
Miss International Thailand Ruechanok “Tavee” Meesang has arrived in Japan carrying the hopes of a nation on her slender shoulders.
Fans and family members of the beauty queen gathered at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Wednesday morning to cheer her on as she boarded Thai Airways flight TG676 to Tokyo.
Ruechanok is vying to be crowned Miss International 2022 at the awards ceremony in the Japanese capital on December 13. Sireethorn Leearamwat of Thailand will pass the crown to her successor at the end of the ceremony.
Ruechanok will spend the next two weeks in a beauty boot camp along with 80 other contestants from around the world.
The 27-year-old from Pathum Thani qualified for the global contest in Tokyo after winning Miss Heritage Thailand 2022 and Miss International Thailand 2022.
The humorous hashtag #อย่าให้เทวีจับไมค์ (“Don’t let Tavee grab the mic”) is trending among her army of Thai fans, who are convinced that her big weapon in the contest is her speaking ability. Ruechanok is renowned for her communication skills as a news anchor, sitcom actress, model, and executive in her family’s real estate business.
Proving that her beauty comes with brainpower, she won a Bhumibol Scholarship to graduate with first-class honours in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Thammasat University before grabbing a Master’s in business and marketing in Australia.
Why watch the whole movie when you can watch recaps?
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2022
A growing number of YouTubers who create recap videos summarizing mostly movies and dramas are enjoying popularity among viewers who appreciate their convenience.
YouTuber Go Mong Tube, who started his channel back in 2016, is a prominent player in the field. His channel, which mainly recaps Korean movies and dramas, has more than 600 videos and over 2.14 million subscribers. One of the most popular videos on his channel is the Indian hero movie “Krrish” that has racked up more than 24.7 million views. The channel’s accumulated views have reached over 1.1 billion.
Go Mong Tube recently expanded into making videos summarizing Naverwebtoons.
Another recap YouTuber, G Movie, has over 2.41 million subscribers. His channel has over 400 videos and more than 985 million accumulated views.
Why the popularity?
What these star recap YouTubers share in common is that they retell the movie or drama with a touch of humour.
“I watch movie recap channels because they are even more entertaining than the actual films. I think humorous YouTubers can turn movies that are awful into super fun recap content,” Kim Yoo-jin, 31, said.
Some viewers say that these recap videos can be helpful for those who do not wish to spend time watching long films.
“I got used to watching short-form content like Instagram Reels and TikTok, so it became difficult for me to sit down and watch a long movie. Also, recap videos get to the point right away. I think it suits Koreans who are always so busy,” Park Eun-mi, 38, said.
Youn Young-in, 32, finds recaps helpful at work.
“Everyone said they watched ‘My Liberation Notes’ at the time, but I do not usually enjoy watching K-dramas. So just to be part of the conversation, I watched recap videos and it helped me a lot when I had to make small talk at work,” Youn said.
Culture critic Jung Deok-hyun pointed out that people’s fear of missing out is one reason they turn to recap content.
“If there is a certain trending content, Koreans tend to feel a lot of pressure about how they cannot be part of the conversation if they did not watch it,” Jung said.
He added that the dramatic increase in content following the appearance of different streaming platforms has made it even more difficult for people to keep up with all of what’s trending.
“It became difficult to even for me to watch them all. So people are tempted to watch recap videos that summarize and shorten the original versions,” he added.
A boon for the content industry?
No matter the reason for watching recap videos, this content does have a positive impact, especially on the independent film industry.
In 2018, when the Korean independent film “Park Hwa-young” (2018), which was released on July 19, was about to be taken down from the few local theatres that screened it, YouTuber Go Mong Tube posted a recap video of the film on Aug. 16.
The video immediately became popular with over 10 million views and the film stayed on in theatres for another month.
Film distributors then jumped on the chance to advertise their movies via recap YouTube channels.
Two sides of the same coin
However, some culture critics say that such summary videos do not always bring benefits to the local content industry.
Well-known culture critic Lee Dong-jin told YouTuber ChimChakman, also known as ex-webtoon creator Lee Mal-nyeon, in an interview that “recap videos can be useful but it is not the same as watching a movie.”
He went on to criticize those who watch recap videos to satisfy their intellectual vanity.
“I hope that those people do not fool themselves into believing that they have actually watched the film. What is worse is that some people even evaluate a movie based on a recap video. I won’t say that recap clips are useless, but they are not the same as watching the movies,” he said.
Culture critic Jung agreed.
“It simply tells you which protagonist did what and what were the results. So, it is hard to say you appreciated the film properly. It can lead the viewers to think they have watched the film but I would not say that it is a proper way to consume works of art,” Jung told The Korea Herald.
Thai singer and KinnPorsche star Jeff Satur to hold February concert in Singapore
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2022
Thai singer-actor Jeff Satur will be holding his first solo concert in Singapore on Feb 18 at Gateway Theatre.
The 27-year-old is known for playing Kim, the youngest son of a mafia boss in the hit Thai boys’ love series KinnPorsche (2022).
Tickets range from $128 to $228. Additional VVIP packages priced at $498 and VIP packages priced at $298, with meet-and-greet and soundcheck benefits, are available in limited quantities.
VVIP ticket holders are entitled to a solo photo with Satur, while VIP holders have group photo benefits.
Sales will begin on Thursday via Sistic’s ticketing channels.
Some of Satur’s most famous songs include Why Don’t You Stay – a popular tune from the KinnPorsche soundtrack – which has 32 million views on YouTube. His recent track Fade also garnered 26 million views one month into its September release.
Fluent in both English and Thai, Satur made his show-business debut in 2013, and has since released original music as well as covers of songs such as Troye Sivan’s Angel Baby (2021) and The Weeknd’s Save Your Tears (2020).
He previously showcased his vocals during the KinnPorsche concert held at The Star Theatre in October, which involved 16 cast members of the television drama like Mile Phakphum Romsaithong, Apo Nattawin Wattanagitiphat, Bible Wichapas Sumettikul and Build Jakapan Puttha.
Rapper Wang performing in Bangkok today as part of his world tour
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2022
Chinese superstar Jackson Wang started trending on Twitter on Tuesday after he landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Monday night.
Wang, who is rapper and a member of the GOT7 boy band, greeted his fans, who had flocked to the airport to welcome him, with a “wai”. Meanwhile, hastags #JacksonWang, #PJack and #TEAMWANG started trending on Twitter.
Wang will participate in “Woody FM on Stage with Jackson Wang” at Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre on Tuesday from 3pm to 4.30pm.
He will then perform in a concert “Jackson Wang Magic Man World Tour 2022 Bangkok” from Thursday to Sunday at Impact Arena, Exhibition & Convention Centre, Muang Thong Thani.
After the concert in Thailand, Wang continues his world tour to Malaysia, Singapore, Britain, France and the United Arab Emirates.
Jackson Wang had earlier performed a 45-minute show at the exhibition match between Premier League giants Manchester United and Liverpool at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok on July 12.
Twitter users find BlackPink’s Lisa 2nd most beautiful
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2022
Thailand’s very own K-pop star and member of BlackPink, Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban, came in second in the list of this year’s most beautiful faces according to Twitter users.
Lisa broke YouTube records last year with her first solo single and also pocketed two MTV awards this year.
Twitter’s “Top Face of the Years 2022” list was announced on Saturday and had been compiled by counting Twitter users’ comments, likes or shares with the hashtag #topfaceoftheyears2022.
The most beautiful face was Kim Taehyung, a member of the superstar K-pop boy band BTS, followed by Lisa and another BTS member Jeon Jungkook.
BlackPink’s Kim Jennie and Kim Jisoo took the fourth and fifth places respectively, while Thai big-screen heartthrobs Metawin “Win” Opas-iamkajorn and Vachirawit “Bright” Chivaaree, came in eighth and ninth respectively.
Taylor Swift thanks fans for her happiness, as she wins big at the AMAs
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2022
Pop superstar Taylor Swift won the most prestigious honour on Sunday (November 20) at the American Music Awards when she was named artist of the year at the world’s largest fan-voted ceremony.
The “Anti-Hero” singer thanked voters for supporting her after releasing four original albums and two re-recordings in the last three years.
“The more music I made and the more music I put out, the happier I was, the more I just kept that channel open and just kept creating, kept making things. And the more that happened, the more you guys were like, yeah, I keep doing it. And the happier I was. So, I have the fans to thank, essentially for my happiness, and I love you more than I can say,” she said on stage at the awards show in Los Angeles.
Earlier, Swift’s re-recording of her 2012 record “Red” took the trophy for a favorite pop album. The 32-year-old singer has been making new versions of albums from her past after a dispute with her former record label.
Swift did not mention last week’s controversy over Ticketmaster’s sales for her upcoming tour, which were filled with glitches and prompted the company to apologize to her.
In the artist of the year category, Swift triumphed over formidable names including Beyonce, Harry Styles, The Weeknd, Drake, Adele and Bad Bunny.
Singer Pink opened the awards show dancing and singing on roller skates to her upbeat song “Never Gonna Not Dance Again.”
Dove Cameron, a former Disney Channel actress who reached the Billboard charts this year with the pop single “Boyfriend,” earned the first trophy of the night with her best new artist win.
Collecting her award, she thanked the LGBTQ community and spoke of the importance of visibility, after a gunman opened fire inside an LGBTQ nightspot in Colorado Springs late on Saturday (November 19), killing at least five people and injuring 25 others
“On the heels of the tragedy that happened at Club Q in Colorado Springs, I want to remind everyone how important queer visibility is and how important our community is,” she said.
Machine Gun Kelly, wearing a purple suit with long silver spikes, was named favorite rock artist.
Japan to offer real Detective Conan, Monster Hunter encounters
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2022
Universal Studios Japan (USJ) announced last week that it will offer real-life experiences of the popular anime “Meitantei Conan” (Detective Conan) and the popular video game “Monster Hunter” next year.
The attractions offered from February 17 to July 2, 2023, are part of “Universal Cool Japan”, a series of limited events featuring Japanese anime and video games USJ has been holding since 2015.
Monster Hunter. Courtesy of Universal Studios Japan
Universal Studios Japan
The Conan attraction will see visitors enjoying a world of anime while trying to solve riddles, while Monster Hunter will have players take on giant monsters in a magnificent natural albeit virtual reality setting. Details will be announced in the future.
Monster Hunter. Courtesy of Universal Studios Japan
Universal Studios Japan
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