Twitch was proud to be a sponsor of Toronto’s Reel Asian International Film Festival this year and we’re more than pleased to pass along news of the festival’s award winners.  Attendance was way up this year - thirteen percent, which is a big jump for an established fest - and the award winners reflect the diversity of the programming selections ... continue on for the full list.

Continue Reading "REEL ASIAN Award Winners Announced"...

If you were asked to identify 10 directors which lead to the inspiration of the creation of Twitch, well, you would have to ask Todd, but I would hazard a guess that one of them would be Pen-Ek Ratanaruang.  From his debut Fun Bar Karaoke to the waaay more than a Quentin Tarantino rip-off 6ixtynin9 (yea, people have actually accused the film of this.  They are wrong.) and of course the undeniable masterpiece that is Last Life in the Universe—the man is more than a little loved in these parts (although we didn’t like Invisible Waves too much, Ploy redeemed all).  The fine folks at the Reel Asian International Film Festival put together a programme consisting of a variety of short works from one of the leading lights of Thai cinema.  Works ranged from life insurance commercials, a don’t-do-drugs PSA, a Nike sponsored documentary about a soccer pad underneath one of Bangkok’s raised highways and the short digitally shot Twelve Twenty which featured Christopher Doyle on cinematography duties. 

Thoughts on each after the jump.

Continue Reading "Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival Report:  TOTAL PEN-EK (Ratanaruang)"...

Yesterday evening Toronto’s Reel Asian International Film Festival announced the lineup for their eleventh edition and it’s a good one.  The festival will open with Justin Lin’s Finishing The Game and end with Mika Ninagawa’s Sakuran with loads of good stuff in between.  Of particular interst to Twitch readers will be the local bow of Romeo Candido’s Ang Pamana: The Inheritance - much written about in these pages - and a special presentation titled simply Total Pen-Ek.  Twitch is the official media sponsor of Total Pen-Ek and more than a little excited to be so ... the program is a collection of little seen works by Thai auteur Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, specifically his Jeonju commissioned short film Twelve Twenty, his Nike commissioned documentary Total Bangkok; and a reel of his commercial work - the man’s got to pay the bills, after all - selected by Pen-Ek himself. 

The festival runs November 14 - 18.