Pen-ek Ratanaruang

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
)
Pen-ek Ratanaruang
เป็นเอก รัตนเรือง
Pen-ek at press preview for Ploy in 2007
Born (1962-03-08) 8 March 1962 (age 62)
EducationPratt Institute
Occupations
Notable work

Pen-ek Ratanaruang (

Bangkok, Thailand) is a Thai film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his arthouse work, Last Life in the Universe, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul
. He goes by the nickname Tom and is sometimes credited as Tom Pannet.

Biography

Education and early career

Pen-ek studied from 1977-85 at the

anti-dandruff shampoo spot entitled "Dance".

Debut film, international recognition

He made his debut feature film,

Berlin Film Festival
.

Pen-ek's second film,

Best Foreign Language Film in 1999. It was also screened at the Rotterdam Film Festival
and other festivals.

His third film,

75th Academy Awards
.

Pen-ek served as editor for director

Citizen Dog. In 2004, Pen-ek was among the artists receiving the inaugural Silpathorn Award
by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture of Thailand. The award is given annually to contemporary artists.

Pan-Asian concepts

For his fourth film,

Venice International Film Festival
and was Thailand's submission to the 2003 Academy Awards.

Pen-ek worked again with Prabda, Doyle and Asano on

Korean actress Kang Hye-jung. It was selected for competition at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival, where it had its world premiere. Invisible Waves was also the opening film for the 2006 Bangkok International Film Festival
, where it also was in competition.

Pen-ek was selected to take part in the Digital Short Films by Three Directors project at the 2006

.

Recent works

Also in 2006, Pen-ek directed a short documentary, Total Bangkok, about an amateur

football
league that plays matches on a concrete pitch underneath an elevated expressway in Bangkok. The 21-minute film was sponsored by Nike. Pen-ek is a lifelong football fan.

Pen-ek then returned to screenwriting with

, who starred in Ruang Talok 69, returned to lead the cast, portraying a wife who grows jealous and angry after her husband befriends a teen-age girl.

The film, which also stars

.

In 2007, Pen-ek directed a segment for Short Films Project in Commemoration of the Celebration on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King's 80th Birthday Anniversary, created in honor of King Bhumibol Adulyadej by the Ministry of Culture's Office of Contemporary Arts and Culture. The project featured nine films by 10 directors, including fellow Silpathorn Award winners Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul and veteran filmmaker Bhandit Rittakol.[2]

For his segment, Siang Sawan (Luminous Sound), Pen-ek chose to interview

blind pianist Sila Namthao, letting the musician perform some of the songs composed by the king, and talk about his inspirations and life.[2] "We don't know the King well enough to make a film about him, so this is more like a present that someone would give him on a royal visit," Pen-ek explained in an interview. "If everyone were blind, perhaps our desires would be fewer and more simple. This has echoes of the king's sufficiency theory, and I hope the film will bring it home to the audience," Pen-ek said.[2]

Also in 2007, Pen-ek was invited by the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival to present two of his short films, Total Bangkok and Twelve Twenty, as well as a collection of his commercials, in a program called Total Pen-Ek.[3][4]

His 2011 film

Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.[5]

Filmography

Film

Television series

  • 6ixtynin9: The Series (2023)

References

  • Feinstein, Howard (2004). Out of Time and Place: Pen-ek Ratanaruang on Last Life in the Universe, Indie Wire; retrieved 28 December 2005.
  • Tioseco, Alexis A. (2005). A Conversation with Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Criticine.com; retrieved 28 December 2005.
  • Morris, Ron (2000). "Bangkok Dispatch", Future Frame; retrieved 17 October 2006.
  • Hunt, Matthew (2020). Thai Cinema Uncensored. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books. pp. 67, 146–147. .

Notes

  1. ^ Pusan Promotion Plan projects[permanent dead link] (doc file).
  2. ^ a b c Reigning light Archived 2007-11-29 at the Wayback Machine, The Nation (Thailand); retrieved 19 November 2007.
  3. ^ Total Pen-Ek Archived 2007-11-02 at the Wayback Machine, Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival; retrieved 19 November 2007.
  4. ^ Total Pen-Ek Archived 2007-11-21 at the Wayback Machine, TwitchFilm.net; retrieved 19 November 2007.
  5. ^ "Thailand targets Oscars with Headshot". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.

External links