The 10-day filmmaking workshop aims to bring together filmmakers from less developed countries in Asia Pacific and broaden opportunities for them through giving them access to training and industry mentors, as well as funding.
Bangkok: As part of the Short Film Camp, led by Purin Pictures and sponsored by Netflix, four teams making up of filmmakers from Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar were awarded prizes this month in Bangkok. Their prizes included grants and post-production support to make their short films.
The workshop aims to bring together filmmakers from less developed countries in Asia Pacific and broaden opportunities for them through giving them access to training and industry mentors, as well as money support. It was a 10-day long program.
This year, the 24 participants from Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar honed their writing, producing and directing skills in a dual-track program for producers and directors. They were mentored by professional filmmakers from the Mekong Region, attended a career talk by Netflix, and did a live pitch of their short film projects.
“In my country, we have art, we have films; but we don’t give enough importance to these things,” said Chonchanok Thanatteepwong, 24, from Bangkok, Thailand. “Through this program, my mentor helped me to refine my script and I also learned a lot about producing.”
This is the second year that Netflix is a major sponsor of the Short Film Camp led by Purin Pictures in Southeast Asia.
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Short Film Camp gave emerging filmmakers access to training, industry mentors, and funding. |
The four winning short films were:
Ponay (Thailand)
The Witness (Laos)
Termite Life (Thailand)
Sad Diva Lands on the Moon (Myanmar)
“The winning four films are varied in genre and style but in all of them, you can see a filmmaker discovering their voice. We identify and invest in young talents with the hope that in the future, they will go on to become leaders in the film and content industries back home,” said Aditya Assarat, one of the co-founders of Purin Pictures.
Speaking during a Career Talk at the camp, Abishek Bajaj, Netflix’s Manager of Local Originals for Thailand, said: “We believe in authentic local stories and that great stories can come from anywhere.” He encouraged participants to “tell the stories that you know” and to write and push through “even when you’re not feeling inspired”.
Of the 12 pairs of directors and producers, five teams are from Thailand, four from Myanmar, two from Cambodia, and one from Laos. Their films cover topics ranging from family drama and LGBTQ issues, to political repression and the deconstruction of identity. LGBTQ is a controversial matter in that countries.
“It's just been really amazing,” said Vicky Nway, 28, from Yangon, Myanmar. “It's very hard to find people to talk to about films. A lot of people in my community don’t know much about films, so we’ve been among like-minded people and we’ve been able to network and meet people from our industry.”
Images: Netflix Thailand