We present the short films that will compete at the Bangkok ASEAN Film Festival (Thailand) which will take place from January 20 – 25, 2023 at the Paragon Cineplex and SF World Cinema.

Not knowing it’s the final three months for her dementia-ridden grandmother, a filmmaker records their daily interactions. Her intent gaze documents the grandmother’s physical changes and her belief that worms are living under her skin. After the passing, the filmmaker revisits her hometown in hopes of weaving reminiscences of their past memories. The unpleasant condition of the space confronts her with truths on ageing, change and mortality. (BAFF 2023)

In a stinking, narrow alley in Saigon, a film crew is rushing to finish shooting the final scenes of a small-budget movie. Coincidentally, the gaffers while setting up lights witness a murder taking place in a domestic household. In order to keep shooting, the film crew decides to help the murderer hide the dead body. (BAFF 2023)

Thailand’s strategic position and political orientation made it the ideal ally for the United States during the Vietnam war. Through an astonishing mix of contemporary and archival images, “All The Things You Leave Behind” deploys precise criticism to analyse a little-known page of modern history, emblematic of contemporary power games and warfare. (BAFF 2023)

Three former now middle-aged schoolmates — a married couple and a carefree bachelor — reunite at a chalet. Hazy memories of the past are stirred up, leading to the resurfacing of a long-buried love triangle. The trio are left to confront their repressed feelings. (BAFF 2023)

Since their factory closes down, 18-year-old San Kyi and her 25-year-old close friend Theint Theint Oo are out of work. San is set up for an arranged marriage by her mother. Since Theint will return to her hometown to work, San decides to run away with her. She gives her gold chain to Theint to make money. Things do not work out the way San expects when Theint does not return on time. (BAFF 2023)

A young indigenous Bunong woman and her older brother spend one last day in their rural village in northeastern Cambodia, before an impending move to the capital city in search of a more prosperous life. (BAFF 2023)

The story of my grandmother and her belief in God. Before breaking her leg, she always watched and believed in a famous online priest who healed many people. Then because of his popularity, the government asks him to move out of the church. After the accident, laid down and depressed, my grandmother – like other believers – has to challenge her own faith. (BAFF 2023)

In 2020, Muda Wae and her father live on a meagre income, sent to them by Muda’s mother, who works in Thailand. Amid Covid-19, her mother calls to say she is worried about losing her job and she would not be able to send money. A few weeks later, Muda has her first period. She asks her father for money to buy sanitary pads and panties without telling him the real reason. He refuses. Her friend gives her a pair of used panties and makes emergency pads from old clothes, which causes an embarrassing accident in front of her father. (BAFF 2023)

A young scam call operator is thrust into a moral dilemma as she frantically hustles for money to afford an abortion.(BAFF 2023)

It is her first day living as a motorcycle taxi driver and she has to do something to prevent order cancellations. (BAFF 2023)

The filmmaker and his younger brother filmed a wadi they describe as “windless” for being too quiet. With archives of footage and audio conversations, it recreates a lonely character contemplating the deep muffled voices of the unseen real people, stillness of rocks to the unmoving conflict. The dialogues within the wordless exposé tackle traumatic memories as they become urgent stories relevant to both the past and the present. (BAFF 2023)

When polar opposite sisters Nur and Karina reunite for their grandparents’ wedding anniversary dinner, Karina starts itching and blames Nur for putting garlic in her food. (BAFF 2023)

A funeral director finds himself hapless when the wrong body has been sent for cremation. When there seems to be no other way, he devises a plan for a sham funeral with the deceased’s three estranged children. (BAFF 2023)

Vibol and his brother Kea sell noodles on a motorized cart every night on the streets of Phnom Penh. They often face troublesome threats from gangsters and thieves, even if these very people are their only customers. As the city is growing around them, they consider their unstable income and imagine a different future. (BAFF 2023)

For more information please visit: https://www.baff.go.th/