New Thai titles registered as national treasures
The Thai Film Archive recently announced 15 Thai films that are listed this year as National Film Heritage, including a movie with portrayals of LGBTI characters dating back to 1954.
The National Film Heritage registry aims to highlight the importance of films and moving images as historical treasure and cultural expression that deserve safeguarding, preservation and distribution to the public. This is the ninth year that the Thai Film Archive has announced films to the registry, with the total number, including this year’s 15 titles, growing to 200 films.
King Rama VII Visits The Northern Provinces (1926): Shot by King Rama VII himself, the 120-minute travelogue documents the king’s visit to the northern territory as well as the peoples and customs of the North.
Royal Tour In Northern Siam (1926): This film documents the same royal visit as the above, though this one was shot by a cameraman from the Film and News Department of State Railways of Siam, which functioned as the government public relations department in those days.
See Siam (1930): Shot by the Film and News Department of the State Railways, this documentary showing various attractions was one of the first tourism promotion materials aimed at appealing to foreigners.
Lued Chao Na [Farmers’ Blood, incomplete] (1936): One of the first sound motion pictures produced by Sri Krung Studio.
Pid Thong Lang Phra [Gold Leaf Behind The Buddha, incomplete] (1939): One of the first sound motion pictures produced by Thai Pappayon Studio.
Katoey Pen Het [It Happens Because Of A Katoey] (1954): The oldest film ever discovered that has a katoey — a transgender — as a main character. The film is an amateur movie made by a group of film enthusiasts.
Bangkok Metropolitan Buses And Trucks (1958): A six-minute clip recording various buses and public transportation vehicles in Bangkok. A number of vintage buses and cars are featured.
Muay Thai (1963): This 16mm film records the training of Bua Wad-im, a respected Thai boxer and coach known for his Korat style.
Nang Sao Poradok [Miss Poradok] (1965): A feature film by Kunawuti, one of the legendary Thai directors, the film stars Mitr Chaibancha and Pitsamai Wilaisak. The directing is outstanding and involves several narrative techniques that were ahead of its time.
Fah Muang Thai, The Eighth Anniversary On Wednesday, April 19, 1976 (1976): This home movie by legendary editor and writer Arjin Panjapan was filmed at a gathering of famous writers at a party celebrating Arjin’s magazine Fah Muang Thai (or Thai Sky).
Luk Ba Tiew Lah Sud [Crazy Me] (1993): A feature film that captures the sentiment of urban development and a salaryman’s woes in the 1990s, a few years before the financial crisis hit.
Fun Bar Karaoke (1997): The first film by director Pen-ek Ratanaruang opens a new chapter for Thai cinema with its daring narrative style.
Pee Mak Phrakanong (2013): The highest-grossing film in Thai history, the film reinterprets the wellworn tale of the Mae Nak ghost through the eyes of her husband. The comedy-horror-romance film grossed almost 1 billion baht.
Apati [Karma] (2015): First banned due to its depiction of a misbehaving monk, the film was re-edited and released under the new name and went on to become Thailand’s representative to the Oscars.
Insects In The Backyard (2017): First banned in 2010, Insects In The Backyard was the first film to get the axe under the Film Act 2009. The director took the case to the Administrative Court and the ban was lifted in 2017, following which the film was released for the first time.