The city of Bangkok, notably refered to as the 'City of Angels' certainly provided a cinematic feast for those fortunate to be attending the second Bangkok International Film Festival. As well as featuring well known international films such as Lars von Trier's (2003) Dogville and Sofia Coppola's (2003) Lost in Translation, the festival provided the audience with a wonderful panorama of both contemporary and classic Thai cinema. The BKKIFF offered a smorgasboard of cinema and was truly catered towards an international and multicultural audience. The Golden Kinnaree Award is the most coverted film prize in South East Asia and International filmmakers competed for recognition of their craft within the region, while local and regional filmmakers competed for the ASEAN FIPRESCI Awards. With a line up of films and documentaries such as those on offer at the 2004 Bangkok International Film Festival, it will certainly be able to call itself the premier film festival in Asia.

The festival ran from the gala opening of the 22nd of January to the closing world premier of David Mamet's (2004) Spartan (USA), an appearance by Val Kilmer firmly entrenching Bangkok within the festival circuit. The opening night screening was The Siam Renaissance (Taiwpop) by local Thai director Surapong Pinijkhar which allowed the audience a glimpse into the excellent local and regional films on offer. One feature of the festival was the ASEAN Panorama Competition where films from various ASEAN countries including Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam vied for the FIPRESCI Award (Federation de la Presse Cinematographique Internationale). Riding on the success of his previous international festival offerings such as the 1997 film Fun Bar Karaoke and the 1999 6ixtyin9, Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang won Best ASEAN film for Last Life in the Universe. The film, about a Japanese man and a Thai woman who find themselves thrown together due to mitigating circumstances was clearly a hit with the audience as well as with the FIPRESCI judges and will no doubt raise Ratanaruang's image within the global and regional cinema market. Golden Kinnaree Awards were also given to Matsuoka Naomi's (2002) Broken Blossom (Japan) for Best Documentary while Ham Tran's (2003) The Anniversary (Vietnam/USA) won Best Live Action. Best Animation was won by Jason Lai's (2002) 3 Feet Apart (Singapore). Vanessa Ly's (2003) Mekong Interior (France/Cambodia) walked away with two awards for Overall Short Film Award as well as the Jameson Short Film Award.

In terms of prestigious awards the BKKIFF presented Oliver Stone with a Golden Kinnaree for Career Achievement while Best Film went to Denys Arcand's (2003) The Barbarian Invasions (Canada/France) a sequel to his 1986 film The Decline of the American Empire. The Best Director was awarded to Jim Sheridan's (2002) In America (Ireland). The Best Actor Award was shared amongst Li Yixiang, Wang Shungbao and Wang Baoqiang for Li Yang's (2003) Blindshaft (Mang Jing) (China). This film has also picked up numerous international awards including the Silver Bear Award at the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival. Best Actress Award was given to Giovanna Mezzogiorno in Ferzan Ozpetek's (2003) Facing Windows (la Finestra di Fronte) (Italy, UK, Turkey and Portugal). The festival worked hard to present both regional and international cinema. The 'Windows on the World' program was a collection of about 95 of the best cinema from countries as different as the USA's Wayne Kramer (2002) The Cooler, Bhutan's Khyentse Norbu (2003) Travellers and Magicians and Slovenia's Damjan Kozole (2003) Rezervni deli (Spare Parts). It's aim was to present the best and most ecclectic range of international cinema to both the local and regional audience but also to the huge amounts of tourists and press that attended festival screenings. The sheer number of films on offer within such a short time frame was a testament to the strength of planning and organization that went into the festival itself. The festival paid homage to the cinematography of Christopher Doyle, internationally known for films such as Wong Kar-Wai's (2000) In the Mood for Love and Yimou Zhang's (2002) Hero. Doyle was present for the seminar titled 'Tribute to Christopher Doyle' where he introduced and spoke at length about the films that he has worked on, thereby providing valuable creative insight into each of the films he has worked on.

The BKKIFF introduced the segement 'Thai Panorama' which screened popular Thai films that have yet to be screened outside of Thailand's national boundaries. Films such as Sutape Tunnirut (2003) Angulinala, a filmic representation based around an incident in Buddha's life, and Ekachai Uekrongtham's (2003) Beautiful Boxer provided the evidence to an international audience of the strength and high quality of Thai films. The festival extended it's panorama to include rarely seen documentary footage of important moments in Thai history, namely the October uprising for a constitution called 14 October by Shin Klaipan. It was the first time that the documentary film was screened in its entirety. The segment 'In the Realm of the Thai Reality' afforded the audience an opportunity to view rarely seen political films such as Paijong Laisakul, Surachai Chantimathon and Euthana Mookdasanit's (1977) Tongpan and Jon Ungpakorn's (1975) Hara Factory Workers Struggle (Karn Torsu Kong Kammakorn Rong-ngan Hara).

The Bangkok International Film Festival 2004 was an outstanding success and will no doubt firmly entrench Bangkok and Southeast Asia on the festival circuit. The high standard of ASEAN films on offer, particularily those originating from within Thailand itself will help the region grow and become recognised internationally for the talent that is has to offer, and for an alternative view to that of other international festivals and cinema's.

                                                                 © FILM JOURNAL 2002