After a slightly rocky, if not controversial start, the annual Bangkok International Film Festival takes place at SF World Cinema, CentralWorld, Bangkok and the Pullman Hotel, Bangkok, September 23-30, 2008.

This year’s event has a strong emphasis on regional films with a good selection of international films. The event organizers have partnered with the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand, the latter choosing the films on show. As usual, the event includes the Golden Kinnaree Awards ceremony, which marks “the highest creative achievement” in filmmaking.

The festival offers films with a range of themes, some highly controversial in their country of origin. The film list includes “Be Like Others”, a “fascinating look at those on the fringes of Iranian life”; Bird Song, a “free adaptation of Don Quixote”; Malaysian film “Day of Turquoise”; Indian film “Frozen”, which "depicts the life of this family whose dream like existence is interrupted by inevitable odds"; “Jay”, a story about a dead gay schoolteacher in the Philippines; Polish film “Katyn”, and Tomas Alfredson's  “Let the Right One In”, amongst many others from countries such as the USA, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Canada.