To widen the global vision, Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) invites outstanding filmmakers from all over the world to join the Jury every year. For this year’s Tiantan Award, Thai director Pimpaka Towira, a globally acclaimed female director, screenwriter and producer, a pioneer of independent films since the early 1990s, and an experienced film festival curator with focus on Asian films, was invited. 

　　

　　Pimpaka Towira, 13th BJIFF Tiantan Award Jury

Both Pimpaka Towira and Apichatpong Weerasethakul are the creators of the Thai film movement that began in 2000, bringing fame to Thai films on the international film festivals. Following the award for Un Certain Regard at the Festival de Cannes for Blissfully Yours by Apichatpong in 2002, Pimpaka first directorial feature debut One Night Husband was premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2003, making her one of the first Thai female filmmakers to be noticed by international critics and audience. She was nominated for the New Currents Award at the 8th Busan International Film Festival for the film. 

For Pimpaka, film is irreplaceable in her life. However, at the beginning of her career, her strongly experimental creations failed to support her, which was worse for a female director. While filming Mae Nak, she thought it was the only opportunity in her life she would have to make a film. She cherished this opportunity as it was given from a workshop at Goethe-Institute Thailand. Therefore, she chose the ghost wife, a popular horror story in Thailand, as her subject, from which she broke the traditional narrative framework with interpretation in an unprecedented female perspective and deconstructed the genre known to the public. 

Her pioneering feminine consciousness and bold breakthroughs in genre were rare for the film industry of Thailand and even sparked discontent among the public. However, a recognition from a Japanese film festival gave her great confidence. Her creative career did not end after this short film. Instead, it indicated a new start represented by her first feature film One Night Husband, which continued her valuable female consciousness and was recognized by the world-class film festivals in Berlin and Busan. Her creation was gradually accepted and recognized by the domestic audience and market. 

　　

　　A Still of One Night Husband 

Given the changing domestic situation in Thailand, she started to step into another area, that is the critics to the volatile reality and politics. The Truth Be Told: The Cases Against Supinya Klangnarong is a politics-centered documentary that captures the tensity in Thailand politics around 2006 from the perspective of a media activist in a legal war. Terribly Happy, which was shortlisted for Short Film Competition at Berlin International Film Festival, focuses on the imbalance between war and emotions for a soldier, and therefore addresses the political turmoil and religious conflicts of the time.

　　

 A Still of The Island Funeral

In addition to creation, she is also an experienced film journalist, film publisher and festival curator. She worked as a film critic and writer for Nation (Thailand), and then Programme Director at the Bangkok International Film Festival in 2001, 2008 and 2009. She strove to promote the screening of films from the Southeast Asia and ASEAN countries and build a platform for film cooperation among Southeast Asian countries. In 2007, she established Extra Virgin with an aim to develop emerging filmmakers and help young filmmakers with their film production, distribution and international sales.

She was appointed the Programme Director for the Bangkok ASEAN Film Festival from 2015 on and served as the Programme Director of the Singapore International Film Festival in 2017 and 2018. With great emphasis on Asian films, she always advocates the collaboration among ASEAN countries, such as Thailand, Singapore, or the Philippines, and calls for global communication through various film festivals in line with the tenet of Singapore International Film Festival on the films in Southeast Asia.

With unique perspective towards Chinese films, her rich creative experience and unique artistic talent allow her to give professional and mature opinions on films, while her years of experience in festival curation bestow her with valuable thoughts on the development of film industry. 

Let’s just look forward to her outstanding performance and insightful remarks as the 13th BJIFF Tiantan Award Jury.