Thailand’s world comedy film festival

Thailand will host the World Comedy Film Festival,which will be sponsored by The Tourism Authority of Thailand(TAT) under the helm of the Federation of National Film Association of Thailand which will feature more than 50 comedy films, will run from 23 – 29 April, 2009, at Siam Paragon Cineplex and SF World Cinema at Central World. The first in Asia this April, will follow the success of the Bangkok International Film Festival, in an effort to position Thailand as the film industry hub of Asia and also to help boost the country’s tourism industry.

Thailand has long been known as the Land of Smiles. Laughter’s Beyond Frontier is the theme of this maiden comedy film festival in Bangkok, with an international array of films from such countries as the USA, UK, Italy, France, Germany, South Africa, Poland and Asian movies from Iran, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, China, Taiwan, as well as the host country Thailand. The film fest will feature 20 films from the World Cinema category, 20 movies from Asian Cinema, and 10 Thai comedies plus 5 classics.

This is the first time that the Comedian Association, the Federation of National Film Associations, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand are working together in close cooperation to showcase the local prowess of comedy acts in films and other kinds of media.