Three Thai feature projects, including a World War II drama from Beautiful Boxer director Ekachai Weklongsam, will be unveiled to industry buyers and programmers at the 11th Cannes Thai Pitch, to be held at Village International’s Thailand Pavilion from May 18-19.
The initiative is supported by Thailand’s Ministry of Culture and Department of Cultural Promotion and aims to connect Thai filmmakers with potential investors, co-producers, financiers, sales agents, distributors and festival programmers. Meetings for all three projects will be coordinated by producer Raymond Fasanavirangoon.
Ekachai’s The Weight of Ashes, co-produced with Monticha Masanukroh, takes place in Bangkok in 1944, after a young Thai nurse’s world is shattered by Allied bombing. She takes her religious vows at a Buddhist monastery, but her escape from the world is interrupted when she has to nurse a wounded enemy soldier. This ordeal leaves her with a deep sense of loss, faith, and compassion. Ekachai’s debut feature Beautiful Boxer (2004) premiered at Berlin Panorama and won the Sebastian Prize at San Sebastian. The sequel, The Pleasure Factory (2007), was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes. Since then, he has been the executive producer of Netflix Thailand originals such as “Girl from Nowhere” (2018-2021), “The Stranded” (2019), and “Doctor Climax” (2024).
The emerging filmmaker’s two titles are “So Rong Maesaron,” directed by Thanakrit Duangmaneeporn and produced by It Patpataan Boontalig, and “Apocalypse of the Bees”, director Nuntanath Duangtisaan’s feature debut, produced by Phachara Eimtrakul. “So Long, Maesalong” is set in the 1990s, when Tuan, a Thai-Chinese man, returns to Mae Salong from Taiwan to learn that the village chief has been murdered and is expected to take the role. While a romance blossoms with Ornn, a newly arrived schoolteacher, the opium trade of the Golden Triangle and its attendant corruption looms large around them. Tanakhrit’s documentary debut “Breaking the Cycle” (2024), co-directed with Ekapon Saranseth, premiered at Hot Docs and won Best Documentary at the National Film Institute of Thailand Awards. Boontarig produced “Solids by the Seashore” (2023), which won both the Netpac Award and the LG OLED Award at the New Current Competition in Busan.
“The Bee Apocalypse” is set in the world of contemporary art. A filmmaker named Film attends an exhibition built around a disturbing conceit. Famorun, a lonely beekeeper, is sealed in a glass chamber with his hive, and artist Andy auctions off some of the protective clothing Famorn needs to take off. The film’s anger at the spectacle draws him to Famone, and what begins as solidarity gradually reveals a deeper story of exploitation and a thirst for retribution. Nuntanato’s short film “Woman I” was submitted to the Venice Orizzonti competition in 2010, and subsequent works have been screened at the Shanghai Queer Film Festival and the Asian Short Film Competition in Busan.
The project was selected by a committee consisting of Bangkok International Film Festival programmer Donsaron Kovitvanitcha, director and producer Pimpaka Twira and Fasanavirangoon, and Charida Uabamrungjit and Kong Risdee from the Thai Film Archive.
Previous graduates who have participated in Tie Pitch at Cannes include Nawapol Tamrongrattanarit’s Die Tomorrow at the Bernale Forum, Jaklawal Nirsamrong’s Anatomy of Time at Venice Orizzonti, Solayos Prapapan’s Arnold at Locarno, and Nonthawat Nunbenchapol’s Doi at Locarno. He has participated in famous festivals such as “Boy”. Ji-seok tournament in Busan.
