Doping, sport and morality
Thailand Knowledge Park (TK Park) will be the new venue for the “Contemporary World Film Series” which will be held on a Saturday of every month from September to December.
A similar film series, with the same title and format, had been held earlier at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand for nine years and had become very popular in the city.
The new, monthly film programme will feature unique and thought-provoking movies from around the world, with support by various embassies. They will provide their best movies and also their local snacks — a unique amalgam of cinema and cuisine.
The film series will open with Fair Play, the Czech Republic’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards directed by Andrea Sedlackova, on Sept 10 at 4pm.
Set in 1983 during the Socialist era in Czechoslovakia, the story centres around Anna, a talented female athlete groomed for the Los Angeles Olympics. She is put on a “secret medical programme” where she is unknowingly getting doped with performance-enhancing steroids.
When Anna finds out the truth, she refuses to take the drugs. That’s when her mother is ordered to give the drugs to her secretly and she agrees to do so as she sees the Olympics as the only chance for Anna to escape the Iron Curtain.
The movie raises many questions about morality and politics under the guise of sports and touches on the subject of emigration, a global issue today.
It has both English and Thai subtitles. Admission is 20 baht (free for members). TK Park is on the 8th floor, Dazzle zone of CentralWorld on Ratchadamri Road.