Three Thai feature projects – among them a World War II drama from “Beautiful Boxer†helmer Ekachai Uekrongtham – will go before industry buyers and programmers at the 11th edition of Thai Pitch at Cannes, set for May 18–19 at the Thai Pavilion in Village International.
The initiative is backed by Thailand‘s Ministry of Culture and the Department of Cultural Promotion, and aims to connect Thai filmmakers with potential investors, co-producers, funders, sales agents, distributors, and festival programmers. Meetings for all three projects will be coordinated by producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon.
Ekachai's “The Weight of Ash,†co-produced by Monticha Mathanukroh, unfolds in Bangkok in 1944, after Allied bombing has shattered a young Thai nurse's world. She takes religious vows at a Buddhist monastery, but her retreat from the world is disrupted when she must care for a wounded enemy soldier – a test that draws her into deeper reckoning with loss, belief, and compassion. Ekachai's debut feature “Beautiful Boxer†(2004) premiered at Berlin Panorama and received the Sebastiane Award at San Sebastian; his follow-up “Pleasure Factory†(2007) screened in Cannes' Un Certain Regard. He has since executive produced Netflix Thailand originals including “Girl From Nowhere†(2018–2021), “The Stranded†(2019), and “Doctor Climax†(2024).
The two emerging-filmmaker titles are “So Long, Maesalong,†directed by Thanakrit Duangmaneeporn and produced by Itt Patiparn Boontarig, and “The Apocalypse of Bees,†a feature debut by Nuntanat Duangtisarn, produced by Patchara Eaimtrakul. “So Long, Maesalong†is set in the 1990s and follows Tuan, a Thai-Chinese man who comes home to Mae Salong from Taiwan to find the village headman has been killed – and that he is expected to fill the role. A romance develops with Orn, a newly arrived schoolteacher, while the shadow of the Golden Triangle's opium trade and its attendant corruption closes in around them. Thanakrit's documentary debut “Breaking the Cycle†(2024), co-directed with Aekaphong Saransate, premiered at Hot Docs and won Best Documentary at the Thailand National Film Association Awards. Boontarig produced “Solids by the Seashore†(2023), which took both the Netpac Award and the LG OLED Award in Busan's New Currents competition.
“The Apocalypse of Bees†is set in the contemporary art world, where a filmmaker named Film attends an exhibition built around a disturbing conceit: a lone beekeeper, Phamorn, is sealed inside a glass room with his hives while the artist, Andy, auctions off pieces of the protective suit Phamorn is required to shed. Film's outrage at the spectacle draws him toward Phamorn, and what begins as solidarity gradually reveals a deeper story of exploitation and the hunger for retribution. Nuntanat's short “Woman I†competed at Venice Orizzonti in 2010, and subsequent work has screened at the Shanghai Queer Film Festival and Busan's Asian Short Film Competition.
Projects were selected by a committee comprising Bangkok International Film Festival programmer Donsaron Kovitvanitcha, director-producer Pimpaka Towira, Phathanavirangoon, and Thai Film Archive's Chalida Uabumrungjit and Kong Rithdee.
Previous Thai Pitch at Cannes alumni have gone on to notable festival berths, including Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit's “Die Tomorrow†at Berlinale Forum, Jakrawal Nilthamrong's “Anatomy of Time†in Venice Orizzonti, Sorayos Prapapan's “Arnold Is a Model Student†at Locarno, and Nontawat Numbenchapol's “Doi Boy†in Busan's Jiseok competition.
