FILMS PRODUCED BY A CINEPHILE

(Warning: this is a self-advertisement)

I was very impressed with many films directed by Wachara Kanha, which I saw in July 2010. FUENG, which is my most favorite film I saw in 2010, is also directed by Wachara, together with Teeranit Siangsanoh and Thani Thitiprawat.
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2010/12/wachara-kanhas-detailed-filmography.html

So I decided to contribute 30,000 baht (about 989 US dollars) to Wachara, hoping that it might help him make 2-3 short films at most. However, I was shocked and delighted when I found out a few days ago that he listed me as a producer in eleven of his new short films!!!!!! How could he use a very small sum of money to make eleven short films? I don't know, but I am very glad.

I feel very strange, though, to see my name listed as a producer, because apart from contributing a small fund, I have done nothing to help Wachara at all. I'm sure I'm one of the worst or laziest producers in the world. Hahaha.

Of all these eleven short films, I have seen only three: BLUE BLANK (2010), DELUSIONAL (เชลยแห่งความรัก) (2010), and TAKE GRANNY MORN TO THE GARDEN (พายายหมอนไปชมสวน) (2010). I like them a lot personally, especially TAKE GRANNY MORN TO THE GARDEN. I like the faces of the old woman in the garden and the old man who complained about Abhisit Vejjajiva in this film very much. There's "life" in these two faces.

I don't know if the other eight films I haven't seen will be good or not. I don't know if I will like them or not. But I'm glad to have participated unknowingly in the making of them.

The other eight films are:

1.ข่มขืนกรุงเทพ (RAPING BANGKOK)

2.ความฝันสีขาวกับเด็กสาวผมสีแดง (WHITE DREAM AND A GIRL WITH RED HAIR)

3.บ้านเมืองของเธอ (HER CITY)

4.ผีโป่ง (PEE PONG)

5.ผู้บุกรุก (INVADER)

6.สักวันเธอจะรักฉันอย่างที่ฉันรักเธอ (ONE DAY YOU WILL LOVE ME LIKE I LOVE YOU)

7.สูญ (LOSE)

8.ห้องเรียนฝรั่งเศสกับปริศนาฟรองซัว (A FRENCH CLASSROOM AND THE MYSTERY OF FRANÇOIS)


I ask myself why I have become a producer. It is mainly because I like Wachara's films very much. I also think it is partly because I am a cinephile or a film lover. I think a film lover should try to support the films and the filmmakers he/she likes. The support can be done in a number of ways: writing about them, studying them, distributing them, trying to show them, curating them, preserving them, contributing some funds to them, etc.

I used to write some blog posts about the films and the filmmakers I like. However, for the past several years, I have found that I have less and less time for writing. That makes me feel repressed as a film lover. I love many films I saw, but I don't have enough time to write about them. My love for these films is kept inside me. I cannot express them because of lack of time. So I think my contribution to Wachara's films is a way to lessen my feeling of repression. I may not have enough time to support all the filmmakers I like by writing about them, but I might be able to support them in some other ways.

Unfortunately, I have had some financial problems since November 2010, so I cannot do this kind of financial support again. I have become a repressed film lover again. I don't have enough money to support the filmmakers I like. I don't have enough time to write about the films and the filmmakers I like.

Though I am a repressed film lover, I am still a very happy film lover. I'm happy because great films are still being made. I'm happy because I have seen many films that I like very much recently, including CAN'T SAY NO (2008, Iliana Lolic), CHAEKI-CHAEUE (2011, Buncha Muhae), FAIS-MOI PLAISIR! (2009, Emmanuel Mouret), I COVERED MY EYES (2008, Paul Turano), MARION MAZZANO (2010, Marc Angelo, French TV series), MITTELWERK EXPRESS (Jean-Baptiste Alazard), MOTHER (UNFINISHED VERSION) (2011, Vorakorn Ruetaivanichkul), RESTLESS (2009, Laurent Perreau), WHY DO YOU JUMP? (2011, Korn Kanogkekarin), and ZOETROPE (2011, Rouzbeh Rashidi). These films make me feel very glad that I have lived long enough to be able to see them.

Thanks to the Thai Film Foundation for showing great, obscure films to us every year since 1998. Thanks to Wachara Kanha for making all these films.