Films at Bangkok Schools and Cultural Centers
Embassies and Clubs Sponsor Indie Movie Series
RCA House and Apex's Lido, Scala and Siam theaters are the most reliable places to see foreign-language and non-mainstream movies in Bangkok, as described in the first part of this series. Little known to tourists, non-commercial organizations in Bangkok also regularly show movies at little or no cost to the viewer. In any given week, there is as least one unusual film screening, and usually more. It takes some inside knowledge, however, to keep up with the schedules.
The Alliance Francaise, Goethe Institute, Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) and the Japan Foundation (aka Japan Cultural Center) usually screen a film once or twice a week. All four have English editions of their websites listing what’s screening in the month ahead.
Japan Foundation Bangkok and Foreign Correspondents Club
Films shown at the first three organization always, or almost always, have English subtitles if the soundtrack isn't in English. Unfortunately, the Japanese films shown Friday evenings at the Japan Foundation, not far from the intersection of Asoke and Sukhumvit roads, are usually only subtitled in Thai. Phone if uncertain.
Japan Foundation phone: 02-260-8560/4
It might not be clear on the FCCT website calendar, but non-members can attend the weekly (usually Thursday) evening screening by paying the non-member's entrance fee of 150 baht. In addition, the non-member must purchase a drink or something to eat. This is not the most comfortable or quiet place to watch a movie: movies are shown on a smallish screen in a dimmed, level dining area.
On the plus side, frequently the classic or recent movies shown here arrive courtesy of a less-visible embassy (such as that of India, Czech Republic, Iran and Switzerland). The embassy might also produce a speaker or home-style appetizers. Located on the top floor of the Maneeya office building at the Childlom Skytrain station, the FCCT is also very convenient.
FCCT phone: 02-652-0580/1
Pridi Institute Highlights Vintage Films
Other cultural centers, schools and art spaces also show movies, but they're usually one-off events or series.
One weekend afternoons, however, the Pridi Banomyong Institute on Thonglor Road shows old family-friendly movies (E.T., Around the World in Eighty Days) and the type of classics that are standbys on the U.S. college circuit (Woman of the Dunes, Casablanca, The World of Apu). Movies are usually shown in the original language with only Thai subtitles. Most of the Pridi Institute's website is in Thai, although the titles of movies are always in English or Roman letters.
Regardless, the website isn't easy to navigate or always kept up to date. Probably the best route is to check out the posting in front of the institute on trendy Thongkor Road. The institute's large building is a few hundred meters from Sukhumvit Road and the Thonglor Skytrain station, on the left-hand side of Thonglor Road.
Pridi Institute phone: 02-381-3860/1
Chula International Film Fest
Centrally located Chulalongkorn University is the school most committed to running international films when classes are in session, although Thammasat University does so as well. Usually the free screenings at Chula start at 5 pm on Friday afternoons, but sometimes Monday afternoons as well. The Chula series favors movies that have made the rounds of the international film festival circuit in recent years. Recent entries have been Mad About English, Waltz with Bashir, and the Korean-language Hansel and Gretel. Often these are movies that have shown at one of the Bangkok's big annual film festivals. The films are in DVD format with English subtitles even if the soundtrack is in English.
Chula's sprawling campus stretches for a block south of Siam Square and the MBK shopping center. The Arts Faculty building holding the free screenings isn't hard to find but it's a good ten minutes' walk from the Siam Square Skytrain station. From the Skytrain station, walk about halfway down Henri Dunant Road before asking students for the "Boromrajakumari Building" (write it down first!). It's on the right-hand side of the road, just inside the college gates. Films are shown up on the fifth floor in a 350-seat lecture hall with a tilted floor. After the screenings, there is a discussion in Thai by professors or local critics.
Chula Film Fest phone: 02- 218-4802
Original Casablanca poster
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E.T. poster
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