The Department of Tourism of Thailand recently held an awards ceremony for short film competition in Thailand International Film Destination Festival 2018 (TIFDF2018) with great success. A number of short films presented beautiful destinations around Thailand by foreign and Thai young competitors on July 17 at KBank Siam Pic-Ganesha Center of Performing Art located on the 8th Floor of Siam Square One. In this occasion, many distinguished international and Thai actors and directors joined the event, including Wes Chatham, actor from The Hunger Games, Escape Plane 2; Justin Diemen, a producer of Before the Fall, Batoor, The Eco-Warriors; Jonah Greenberg, American producer of Jade Warrior, One Last Dance; Dimitri Logothetis, director and screenwriter of Kickboxer 1-2, Pompeii, Suicide Squad, Warcraft, X-Men: Apocalypse; Pu Vithaya and Pu Sahajak, famous Thai actors known internationally; and many more Thai actors and actress, such as Kao Jirayu, Sarah Nalin, Kam The Star, Tor Saksit, Q Flure, Toom Tam The Star and Nui Ketsirin.
Mr Anan Wongbenjarat, Director General of the Department of Tourism said: "Since 2013, Department of Tourism has been organizing Thailand International Film Destination Festival to promote our potential in filming industry and readiness in filming service which is aimed to invite international filming productions to come to Thailand, including, to promote Thai culture, tradition and locations to attract tourists from around the world to experience the beauty of Thailand.
"Now the 6th Thailand International Film Destination Festival 2018 (TIFDF2018), under the concept Colorful Thailand - A True Sense of Thailand's Film Destinations, has come to the closing ceremony. This year's festival has been created with a strategic aim to make connections among international personnel in the film industry, giving opportunities to competitors to have hands-on experience in filming in Thailand and work as a team with Thai crews, which can develop to be a working network in the future. We received a great feedback from film students around the world with 277 teams applied for the short film competition. 24 teams were selected to the final round, such as England, Bulgaria, Portugal, Brazil, India, The Philippines, Singapore. These teams wereassigned to shoot their short films in 8 tourism locations around the country under the concept 'Thai Style' to present the colorful beauty of Thailand in different location, including nature, charming culture, local identity, through the competitors' interpretation. There were also 15 Thai student teams, selected from 36 teams, assigned to shoot under the concept 'Sufficiency Economy' in any provinces in Thailand.
"Thailand on Screen is another well-received activity from Thai people every year by free screening 7 foreign movies shot in Thailand at Paragon Cineplex, Siam Paragon, between July 11-15. These 7 famous films, Kickboxer: Vengeance, Largo Winch II, Lupin the 3rd, The 101-Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared, Kickboxer: Retaliation, Will You Be There? and ALL I SEE IS YOU, have also attracted a lot of tourists to follow to the beautiful filming locations in Thailand.
"To promote the potential of Thailand to attract international filming production through the visions of new generation is a very effective and powerful strategy. From the past, many filming foreign productions, including movies, TV programs, music videos and documentaries, have chosen locations in Thailand which shows our leading potential of having skilled crews and facilities to serve the productions effectively. Therefore, Thailand International Film Destination Festival is very important to promote and present our success to the world as the most popular filming location in Asia," Mr Wongbenjarat added.
The Final Resultfor Thailand Short Film Competition, in Thailand International Film Destination Festival 2018
International Team
Grand Prize: Philippines (Team 12)
Awards for Outstanding Short Films from regional tourism clusters (8 awards)
The Winners of the North Zone
- Award for Outstanding Presentation of North Zone -- The Lanna Cluster: Netherland&Belgium (Team 3)
- Award for Outstanding Presentation of North Zone -- The Cultural World Heritage Cluster: Brazil (Team 6)
The Winners of the North East Zone
- Award for Outstanding Presentation of North East Zone -- The Khong River Cluster: Nepal (Team 9)
- Award for Outstanding Presentation of North East Zone -- The South Eastern Cluster: Philippines (Team 12)
The Winners of the South Zone
- Award for Outstanding Presentation of South Zone -- The Royal Coast Cluster: United Kingdom (Team 15)
- Award for Outstanding Presentation of South Zone -- The Andaman Cluster: Czech Republic (Team 16)
The Winners of the Middle Zone
- Award for Outstanding Presentation of Middle Zone -- The Chao Phraya River Cluster: Philippines (Team 21)
The Winners of the East Zone
- Award for Outstanding Presentation of East Zone -- The Active Beach Cluster: Singapore (Team 24)
Thai Team
Grand Prize: Bangkok University (Team 9)
- First runner-up (1 award): King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (Team 1)
- Second runner-up (1 award): Stamford International University (Team 7)