Pulling back the curtains

A SEA WRITE Award-winning writer, bookstore owner, president of the Asia Pacific Publishers Association and artist, Prabda Yoon isn’t generally recognised as a filmmaker despite having made the short “‘Tang Khong Foon” in 2003 and penned the scripts for Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s films, “Last Life in the Universe” and “Invisible Waves”.

But now he’s made his directorial debut with “Motel Mist”, which premiered on Saturday at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. It’s in the running for the prestigious Hivos Tiger Award, the competition that discovered such directors as Christopher Nolan, Hong Sang-Soo, Lou Ye, Aditya Assarat and Anocha Suwichakornpong.

“I wanted to make films but I didn’t try hard enough. I studied film but I never tried to enter film industry because I didn’t think it suited me,” Prabda explains.

Prabda studied film and experimental animation in the US but it took him almost 20 years to make his first feature 

“My interest in directing grew as the years passed. Then an acquaintance asked me to write the script for his film, but when I finished it, he said he found it too commercial, so I kept it for myself,” says Prabda..

Fate intervened when Prabda met artist and cinematographer Chananun Chotrungroj, who introduced him to Soros Sukhum and Cattleya Paosrijaroen, the producers of the film. 

Cable TV provider TrueVisions invested in “Motel Mist”, the latest in a series of films including Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s “The Master”, Kongdej Jaturanrasmee’s “Snap” and Passakorn Pramunwong’s “The Guitar King” for which it has put up some cash. 

“It’s very hard to make a feature film with a limited budget. Good producers and crew can help a lot,” Prabda says. “The idea of making a film centred on a motel has been in my mind for a long time.” 

“Motel Mist” relates the simultaneous goings-on in three rooms of the Motel Mistress, a maan-rud motel on the outskirts of Bangkok. 

“I’ve been interested in the Thai-style maan rud motel ever since I returned from the US. In the States, they have motels and in Japan, there are love motels, but they are all different from the Thai maan-rud motel. A maan-rud motel is like a fastfood restaurant for sex. You go behind a curtain to seek pleasure for two or three hours. These motels are specially designed for this kind of activity. There are curtains to protect the identity of the customers. I’ve never seen anything like them elsewhere,” Prabda says.

The five main characters in “Motel Mist” all have very different backgrounds. Laila (Prapamonton Eiamchan) is a schoolgirl taken to Motel Mistress by a typical middle-aged Thai man Sopol (Surapol Poonpiriya, father of the award-winning young actress Patcha and acclaimed young director Baz) for a couple of hours of sexual gratification. 

The motel is run by Tot Niyom (Wissanu Likitsathaporn), a young man who wants to be a torch juggler. Another customer is Tun (Vasuphon Kriengprapakit), a former child actor who runs away from home and believes that aliens are coming to take him away. The arrival of Vicky (Katareeya Theapchatri), Laila’s best friend, leads the story to its climax.

“Back in the ’90s many films had plots focusing on several situations taking place at the same time or the same place,” says Prabda, who says he was influenced by American films made two decades ago as well as B-grade features usually shown on cable TV. 

“I wanted to make a film that was different from other Thai films. I was also interested in making a sci-fi movie, which are rare in Thai cinema. My version of sci-fi is however different from the mainstream.

“In general I am happy with the movie but there are sections with which I am still not satisfied,” Prabda responds after being ask to criticise his own first feature film. 

“I’m happy with the experience I’ve earned and with the professional crew, and it went well beyond my expectations to see the film selected for competition in Rotterdam.” 

Indeed, making it into the festival’s competition is now tougher than ever with Rotterdam reducing titles in contention from 15 titles to just eight. The first two screenings of “Motel Mist” were successful and tickets sold-out quickly. 

“I wish I had shot more scenes. Some parts of the film would have benefitted from more materials and time,” the director says.

This is the first time Prabda has ever participated in any film festival and he says he’s enjoyed it. “It’s fun to be in Rotterdam. This is an interesting event and has a philosophy that’s different from other festivals. The festival gathers people in the film industry from around the world to watch screening in a friendly and cosy atmosphere,” he says.

“Motel Mist” will be released in Thailand later this year and Prabda hopes that local audiences will welcome the film. 

“It’s not mainstream and I hope the audience will look at it as a new choice,” he says.

 

On the Web:

www.facebook.com/motelmist