Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Encyclopedia
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang is a Thai
film director
and screenwriter
. He is best known for his arthouse
work, Last Life in the Universe
, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's
leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng
and Apichatpong Weerasethakul
. He goes by the nickname Tom and is sometimes credited as Tom Pannet.
in New York
and worked as freelance illustrator
and designer with Designframe.
In 1993, he started work at the Film Factory in Bangkok, where he worked with Wisit Sasanatieng. At Film Factory, Pen-Ek made several television commercials, for which he won numerous awards, including a bronze medal at the 1997 Cannes Lion Awards for a Clairol
anti-dandruff shampoo spot entitled "Dance".
in 1997. It's the story of a young woman named Pu whose father falls in love with a hostess girl
who's the girlfriend of a mobster. A hitman
named Noi (Ray McDonald) is dispatched to kill the father, and Pu ends up falling in love with Noi. Far Bar Karaoke was screened at many film festivals after its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
Pen-Ek's second film, Ruang Talok 69
(6ixtynin9), is another crime comedy. In it, a young woman (Lalita Panyopas
) finds an instant noodle box filled with money that has been mistakenly placed at her doorstep and she runs afoul of some mobsters. The film was Thailand's submission to the 73rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
in 1999. It was also screened at the Rotterdam Film Festival
and other festivals.
His third film, Monrak Transistor
(Transistor Love Story), is a bittersweet Thai country music
love story involving a young man named Pan (Supakorn Kitsuwon
) who marries his sweetheart (Siriyakorn Pukkavesh
), is drafted into the military and then goes absent without leave to pursue his dreams of being a singer. The film premiered at the Director's Fortnight event at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival
. It was also submitted by Thailand to the 75th Academy Awards
.
Pen-Ek served as editor for director Nonzee Nimibutr
's 2003 film, OK Baytong
, and was the narrator on Wisit Sasanatiang's 2004 film, Citizen Dog
.
In 2004, Pen-Ek was among the artists receiving the inaugural Silpathorn Award
by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture of Thailand. The award is given annually to contemporary artists.
, he teamed up with writer Prabda Yoon
, cinematographer
Christopher Doyle
and Japanese
actor Tadanobu Asano
. Asano portrays a Japanese man on the run from the yakuza
in Thailand. It also features Japanese director Takashi Miike
in a small role as a yakuza. It was selected for competition at the Rotterdam festival, won the best actor award for Asano at the Venice International Film Festival and was Thailand's submission to the 2003 Academy Awards.
Pen-Ek worked again with Prabda, Doyle and Asano on Invisible Waves
, about a Japanese chef who commits a murder in Macau
and flees to Thailand. The film also stars Hong Kong
actor Eric Tsang
and Korean
actress Kang Hye-jeong
. It was selected for competition at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival, where it had its world premiere. Invisible Waves was also the opening film for the 2006 Bangkok International Film Festival
, where it also was in competition.
Pen-Ek was selected to take part in the Digital Short Films by Three Directors project at the 2006 Jeonju International Film Festival
. He directed a short called Twelve Twenty, about a young man (Ananda Everingham
) who falls in love with a woman he sees on the other side of an airport terminal, and then fantasizes about her throughout a 12-hour, 20-minute airline flight. Christopher Doyle
provided cinematography and was also featured in the film as the pilot. The other filmmakers taking part in the project were Singapore
's Eric Khoo
and Darezhan Omirbayev from Khazakstan.
league that plays matches on a concrete pitch underneath an elevated expressway in Bangkok. The 21-minute film was sponsored by Nike. Pen-Ek is a lifelong football fan.
Pen-Ek then returned to screenwriting with Ploy
, which he submitted to the 2006 Pusan International Film Festival
's Pusan Promotion Project in an effort to secure funding. The film was screened at the Director's Fortnight at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
. Lalita Panyopas
, who starred in Ruang Talok 69, returned to lead the cast, portraying a wife who grows jealous and angry after her husband befriends a teen-age girl. The film, which also stars Ananda Everingham
and Porntip Papanai
, was censored in Thailand
due to sex scenes
. Pen-Ek created a special Thai print of the film for its theatrical run there. Ploy was screened at several other film festivals, including the 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival
, the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema
(where it won the FIPRESCI
award), the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
and the San Sebastián International Film Festival
.
In 2007, Pen-Ek directed a segment for Short Films Project in Commemoration of the Celebration on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King's 80th Birthday Anniversary, created in honor of King Bhumibol Adulyadej
by the Ministry of Culture's Office of Contemporary Arts and Culture. The project featured nine films by 10 directors, including fellow Silpathorn Award
winners Wisit Sasanatieng
and Apichatpong Weerasethakul
and veteran filmmaker Bhandit Rittakol
.
For his segment, Siang Sawan (Luminous Sound), Pen-Ek chose to interview blind
pianist Sila Namthao, letting the musician perform some of the songs composed by the king, and talk about his inspirations and life.
"We don't know the King well enough to make a film about him, so this is more like a present that someone would give him on a royal visit," Pen-Ek explained in an interview. "If everyone were blind, perhaps our desires would be fewer and more simple. This has echoes of the king's sufficiency theory, and I hope the film will bring it home to the audience," Pen-ek said.
Also in 2007, Pen-Ek was invited by the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival
to present two of his short films, Total Bangkok and Twelve Twenty, as well as a collection of his commercials, in a program called Total Pen-Ek.
Thai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. He is best known for his arthouse
Art film
An art film is the result of filmmaking which is typically a serious, independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience...
work, Last Life in the Universe
Last Life in the Universe
Last Life in the Universe is a 2003 Thai film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film is notable for being trilingual; the two main characters flit from Thai to Japanese to English as their vocabulary requires...
, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's
Cinema of Thailand
The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited...
leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng
Wisit Sasanatieng
Wisit Sasanatieng is a Thai film director and screenwriter of Chinese descent...
and Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. His feature films include Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, winner of the prestigious 2010 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or prize; Tropical Malady, which won a jury prize at the 2004...
. He goes by the nickname Tom and is sometimes credited as Tom Pannet.
Education and early career
Pen-Ek studied from 1977 to 1985 at the Pratt InstitutePratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and worked as freelance illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
and designer with Designframe.
In 1993, he started work at the Film Factory in Bangkok, where he worked with Wisit Sasanatieng. At Film Factory, Pen-Ek made several television commercials, for which he won numerous awards, including a bronze medal at the 1997 Cannes Lion Awards for a Clairol
Clairol
Clairol is a personal care products division of Procter & Gamble. The Clairol company was started in 1931 by Lawrence M. Gelb and wife, Joan, who named their enterprise after a hair-coloring preparation they found while traveling in France....
anti-dandruff shampoo spot entitled "Dance".
Debut film, international recognition
He made his debut feature film, Fun Bar KaraokeFun Bar Karaoke
Fun Bar Karaoke is a 1997 crime-comedy directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film had its world premiere at the 1997 Berlin Film Festival for which Pen-Ek was credited as "Tom Pannet". It screened in the festival's Forum section.-Plot:...
in 1997. It's the story of a young woman named Pu whose father falls in love with a hostess girl
Prostitution in Thailand
Prostitution in Thailand is illegal, although in practice it is tolerated and partly regulated. Prostitution is practised openly throughout the country. Local officials with commercial interests in prostitution often protect the practice. The precise number of prostitutes is difficult to assess;...
who's the girlfriend of a mobster. A hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
named Noi (Ray McDonald) is dispatched to kill the father, and Pu ends up falling in love with Noi. Far Bar Karaoke was screened at many film festivals after its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
Pen-Ek's second film, Ruang Talok 69
Ruang Talok 69
Ruang Talok 69 , is a 1999 Thai crime film written and directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. It is the second feature film by the Thai writer-director. It stars Lalita Panyopas, a popular star of Thai soap operas.-Plot:Tum is a secretary working for a bank when the company is forced to shed staff...
(6ixtynin9), is another crime comedy. In it, a young woman (Lalita Panyopas
Lalita Panyopas
Lalita Panyopas is a Thai film and television actress. She is best known in Thailand for her roles in lakorn . She made a string of feature films in the late 1980s and also was the lead actress in many Thai lakorns in the late 1980s to early 2000s...
) finds an instant noodle box filled with money that has been mistakenly placed at her doorstep and she runs afoul of some mobsters. The film was Thailand's submission to the 73rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
in 1999. It was also screened at the Rotterdam Film Festival
International Film Festival Rotterdam
The International Film Festival Rotterdam is an annual film festival held in various cinemas in Rotterdam, Netherlands held at the end of January. It is approximately comparable in size to other major European festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno...
and other festivals.
His third film, Monrak Transistor
Monrak Transistor
Monrak Transistor is a 2001 Thai film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. Blending several genres, including comedy, romance, musical and crime, it is the story of a young man named Pan and his odyssey after he goes AWOL from the army and tries to make it as a luk thung singing star.-Plot:The story...
(Transistor Love Story), is a bittersweet Thai country music
Luk thung
Luk Thung refers to the most popular form of a style of music found in Thailand. The term is short for pleng luk thung .Luk Thung songs typically reflect the hardship of everyday life among the rural poor. Tempos tend to be slow, and singers use an expressive singing style with a lot of vibrato...
love story involving a young man named Pan (Supakorn Kitsuwon
Supakorn Kitsuwon
Supakorn Kitsuwon is a Thai film and stage actor. Among his starring roles are as Pan in Monrak Transistor and Khun Krabi in SARS Wars...
) who marries his sweetheart (Siriyakorn Pukkavesh
Siriyakorn Pukkavesh
Siriyakorn Pukkavesa is a Thai actress, model, presenter, designer and magazine publisher. She is best known by her nickname, Oom ....
), is drafted into the military and then goes absent without leave to pursue his dreams of being a singer. The film premiered at the Director's Fortnight event at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival
2002 Cannes Film Festival
The 2002 Cannes Film Festival started on 15 May and ran until 26 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film The Pianist directed by Roman Polanski.-Jury:* David Lynch * Sharon Stone* Michelle Yeoh...
. It was also submitted by Thailand to the 75th Academy Awards
Submissions for the 75th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The following 54 films, all from different countries, were submitted for the 75th Academy Awards in the category Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...
.
Pen-Ek served as editor for director Nonzee Nimibutr
Nonzee Nimibutr
Nonzee Nimibutr is a Thai film director, film producer and screenwriter. Best known for his ghost thriller, Nang Nak, he is generally credited as the leader among a "New Wave" of Thai filmmakers that also includes Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong...
's 2003 film, OK Baytong
OK Baytong
OK Baytong is a 2003 Thai drama film about Buddhist-Muslim relations in southern Thailand. It is written and directed by Nonzee Nimibutr.-Plot:Tum is a young man who has been a monk living in a Buddhist temple in Thailand since he was 5 years old...
, and was the narrator on Wisit Sasanatiang's 2004 film, Citizen Dog
Mah Nakorn
Citizen Dog is a 2004 Thai romance film, directed by Wisit Sasanatieng and based on a story by Wisit's wife, Koynuch , which was illustrated by him...
.
In 2004, Pen-Ek was among the artists receiving the inaugural Silpathorn Award
Silpathorn Award
The Silpathorn Award, , is an honour for living Thai contemporary artists presented annually by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture of Thailand...
by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture of Thailand. The award is given annually to contemporary artists.
Pan-Asian concepts
For his fourth film, Last Life in the UniverseLast Life in the Universe
Last Life in the Universe is a 2003 Thai film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film is notable for being trilingual; the two main characters flit from Thai to Japanese to English as their vocabulary requires...
, he teamed up with writer Prabda Yoon
Prabda Yoon
Prabda Yoon is a Thai writer, novelist, artist, graphic designer, magazine editor, screenwriter and translator. He is the son of Nation Multimedia Group executive and editor Suthichai Yoon....
, cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Christopher Doyle
Christopher Doyle
Christopher Doyle is a cinematographer. He has won the AFI Award for cinematography, the Cannes Technical Grand Prize, Golden Osella, the Golden Horse awards , and Hong Kong Film Award . Doyle is an affiliate of the Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers.-Biography:Doyle was born in Sydney,...
and Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
actor Tadanobu Asano
Tadanobu Asano
, born is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in Electric Dragon 80.000 V, Kakihara in Ichi the Killer, Mamoru Arita in Bright Future, Hattori Genosuke in Zatoichi, Kenji in Last Life in the Universe, Aman in Survive Style 5+, Ayano in The Taste of Tea, and Temudjin...
. Asano portrays a Japanese man on the run from the yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
in Thailand. It also features Japanese director Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike
is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...
in a small role as a yakuza. It was selected for competition at the Rotterdam festival, won the best actor award for Asano at the Venice International Film Festival and was Thailand's submission to the 2003 Academy Awards.
Pen-Ek worked again with Prabda, Doyle and Asano on Invisible Waves
Invisible Waves
Invisible Waves is a 2006 crime film by Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, with screenplay by Prabda Yoon, cinematography by Christopher Doyle, and starring Tadanobu Asano – all people that Pen-Ek had worked with on his previous film, Last Life in the Universe...
, about a Japanese chef who commits a murder in Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
and flees to Thailand. The film also stars Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
actor Eric Tsang
Eric Tsang
Eric Tsang Chi-wai , MH is a prolific Hong Kong actor, film director, film producer and television host best known for hosting the Super Trio series on TVB over the course of 10 years.-Biography:Due to his popularity, he is often the MC in events organized by TVB, and is nicknamed "the Prize Master"...
and Korean
Korean people
The Korean people are an ethnic group originating in the Korean peninsula and Manchuria. Koreans are one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogeneous groups in the world.-Names:...
actress Kang Hye-jeong
Kang Hye-jeong
- Career :Kang Hye-jung began working as a model in her first year of high school, and throughout the late 1990s she appeared in small roles in TV dramas and sitcoms such as Jump and Nonstop 3. Her first film role was in Moon Seung-wook's arthouse/sci-fi film Nabi, for which she won a Best Actress...
. It was selected for competition at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival, where it had its world premiere. Invisible Waves was also the opening film for the 2006 Bangkok International Film Festival
Bangkok International Film Festival
The Bangkok International Film Festival is an international film festival held annually in Bangkok, Thailand, since 2003. In addition to film screenings, seminars, gala events and the Golden Kinnaree Awards.-First years:...
, where it also was in competition.
Pen-Ek was selected to take part in the Digital Short Films by Three Directors project at the 2006 Jeonju International Film Festival
Jeonju International Film Festival
The Jeonju International Film Festival has been held annually since 2000 in Jeonju, South Korea, focusing on digital, independent and art films.-2000:*April 28-May 4: 184 films from 21 countries...
. He directed a short called Twelve Twenty, about a young man (Ananda Everingham
Ananda Everingham
Ananda Everingham is a Laotian-Australian film actor who was born in Thailand. Working primarily in Thai films, he is best known for his lead role in the 2004 horror film, Shutter.-Biography:...
) who falls in love with a woman he sees on the other side of an airport terminal, and then fantasizes about her throughout a 12-hour, 20-minute airline flight. Christopher Doyle
Christopher Doyle
Christopher Doyle is a cinematographer. He has won the AFI Award for cinematography, the Cannes Technical Grand Prize, Golden Osella, the Golden Horse awards , and Hong Kong Film Award . Doyle is an affiliate of the Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers.-Biography:Doyle was born in Sydney,...
provided cinematography and was also featured in the film as the pilot. The other filmmakers taking part in the project were Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
's Eric Khoo
Eric Khoo
Eric Khoo is a film director from Singapore. He was introduced to the world of cinema at a very early age. He was educated at United World College of South East Asia before attending City Art Institute in Sydney, Australia where he pursued cinematography...
and Darezhan Omirbayev from Khazakstan.
Recent works
Also in 2006, Pen-Ek directed a short documentary, Total Bangkok, about an amateur footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
league that plays matches on a concrete pitch underneath an elevated expressway in Bangkok. The 21-minute film was sponsored by Nike. Pen-Ek is a lifelong football fan.
Pen-Ek then returned to screenwriting with Ploy
Ploy
Ploy is a 2007 Thai film written and directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film premiered during the Directors' Fortnight at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival....
, which he submitted to the 2006 Pusan International Film Festival
Pusan International Film Festival
Busan International Film Festival , held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan , South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia...
's Pusan Promotion Project in an effort to secure funding. The film was screened at the Director's Fortnight at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
2007 Cannes Film Festival
The 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the sixtieth, ran from 16 to 27 May 2007. Wong Kar-wai's My Blueberry Nights opened the festival, and Denys Arcand's The Age of Ignorance closed...
. Lalita Panyopas
Lalita Panyopas
Lalita Panyopas is a Thai film and television actress. She is best known in Thailand for her roles in lakorn . She made a string of feature films in the late 1980s and also was the lead actress in many Thai lakorns in the late 1980s to early 2000s...
, who starred in Ruang Talok 69, returned to lead the cast, portraying a wife who grows jealous and angry after her husband befriends a teen-age girl. The film, which also stars Ananda Everingham
Ananda Everingham
Ananda Everingham is a Laotian-Australian film actor who was born in Thailand. Working primarily in Thai films, he is best known for his lead role in the 2004 horror film, Shutter.-Biography:...
and Porntip Papanai
Porntip Papanai
Porntip Papanai is a Thai actress and model. Among her film roles are supporting parts in Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's Monrak Transistor , in which she played the country singer Dao, and Ploy , in which she portrayed Tum, the hotel maid....
, was censored in Thailand
Censorship in Thailand
Freedom of speech in Thailand was guaranteed in the articles 39, 40, 41 in the 1997 Constitution.According to those articles, censorship may be imposed to preserve national security, maintain public order, preserve the rights of others, protect public morals, and prevent criticism of the royal...
due to sex scenes
Sex in film
Sex in film refers to the presentation in motion pictures of sexuality and sex acts, including love scenes. Sex scenes have been depicted in film since the silent era of cinematography. Many actors and actresses have exposed parts of their bodies or dressed and behaved in ways considered sexually...
. Pen-Ek created a special Thai print of the film for its theatrical run there. Ploy was screened at several other film festivals, including the 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival
2007 Bangkok International Film Festival
The 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival was held from July 19 to July 29, 2007, at SF Group's SF World Cinema at CentralWorld. The fifth consecutive year for the festival, organizers planned a program of about 100 films, with an emphasis on Asian cinema....
, the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema
Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema
Osian's-Cinefan, the largest film-festival devoted to Asian and Arab cinema, is part of Osian's Film House Division. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in July 2008.-History:...
(where it won the FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
award), the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
2007 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2007 Toronto International Film Festival was a 32nd annual film festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It ran from September 6, 2007 to September 15, 2007. The lineup consisted of 349 films from 55 countries, selected from 4156 submissions...
and the San Sebastián International Film Festival
San Sebastián International Film Festival
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
.
In 2007, Pen-Ek directed a segment for Short Films Project in Commemoration of the Celebration on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King's 80th Birthday Anniversary, created in honor of King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
by the Ministry of Culture's Office of Contemporary Arts and Culture. The project featured nine films by 10 directors, including fellow Silpathorn Award
Silpathorn Award
The Silpathorn Award, , is an honour for living Thai contemporary artists presented annually by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture of Thailand...
winners Wisit Sasanatieng
Wisit Sasanatieng
Wisit Sasanatieng is a Thai film director and screenwriter of Chinese descent...
and Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. His feature films include Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, winner of the prestigious 2010 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or prize; Tropical Malady, which won a jury prize at the 2004...
and veteran filmmaker Bhandit Rittakol
Bhandit Rittakol
Bhandit Rittakol was an award-winning Thai film director, producer and screenwriter. His films include the controversial biographical film of Thai communist revolutionary Seksan Prasertkul, The Moonhunter; the jungle thriller Tigress of King River and The Seed , a semi-documentary story of Isan...
.
For his segment, Siang Sawan (Luminous Sound), Pen-Ek chose to interview blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
pianist Sila Namthao, letting the musician perform some of the songs composed by the king, and talk about his inspirations and life.
"We don't know the King well enough to make a film about him, so this is more like a present that someone would give him on a royal visit," Pen-Ek explained in an interview. "If everyone were blind, perhaps our desires would be fewer and more simple. This has echoes of the king's sufficiency theory, and I hope the film will bring it home to the audience," Pen-ek said.
Also in 2007, Pen-Ek was invited by the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival
The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is an annual film festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, devoted to Asian cinema, specifically the cinematic works of East and Southeast Asia, as well as those by Asian-Canadian and Asian-American filmmakers....
to present two of his short films, Total Bangkok and Twelve Twenty, as well as a collection of his commercials, in a program called Total Pen-Ek.
Filmography
- Fun Bar KaraokeFun Bar KaraokeFun Bar Karaoke is a 1997 crime-comedy directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film had its world premiere at the 1997 Berlin Film Festival for which Pen-Ek was credited as "Tom Pannet". It screened in the festival's Forum section.-Plot:...
(19971997 in film-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
) - Ruang Talok 69Ruang Talok 69Ruang Talok 69 , is a 1999 Thai crime film written and directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. It is the second feature film by the Thai writer-director. It stars Lalita Panyopas, a popular star of Thai soap operas.-Plot:Tum is a secretary working for a bank when the company is forced to shed staff...
(6ixtynin9) (19991999 in filmThe year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
) - Monrak TransistorMonrak TransistorMonrak Transistor is a 2001 Thai film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. Blending several genres, including comedy, romance, musical and crime, it is the story of a young man named Pan and his odyssey after he goes AWOL from the army and tries to make it as a luk thung singing star.-Plot:The story...
(Transistor Love Story) (20012001 in filmThe year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
) - Last Life in the UniverseLast Life in the UniverseLast Life in the Universe is a 2003 Thai film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film is notable for being trilingual; the two main characters flit from Thai to Japanese to English as their vocabulary requires...
(Ruang Rak Noi Nid Mahasan) (20032003 in filmThe year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
) - Invisible WavesInvisible WavesInvisible Waves is a 2006 crime film by Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, with screenplay by Prabda Yoon, cinematography by Christopher Doyle, and starring Tadanobu Asano – all people that Pen-Ek had worked with on his previous film, Last Life in the Universe...
(20062006 in film- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
) - Twelve Twenty (For Jeonju International Film FestivalJeonju International Film FestivalThe Jeonju International Film Festival has been held annually since 2000 in Jeonju, South Korea, focusing on digital, independent and art films.-2000:*April 28-May 4: 184 films from 21 countries...
's Digital Short Films by Three Directors project, 2006) - Total Bangkok (short film, 2006)
- PloyPloyPloy is a 2007 Thai film written and directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film premiered during the Directors' Fortnight at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival....
(20072007 in filmThis is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
) - Luminous Sound (Short Films Project in Commemoration of the Celebration on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King's 80th Birthday Anniversary, 2007)
- NymphNymph (film)Nymph is a 2009 Thai drama film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. It competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.- Plot :...
(2009) - Headshot (2011)
External links
- Asian Film Archive: Films From Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
- Film Factory – Commercials by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang