BKKIFF Day 9 - Saturday

Ultrascreen 1

I was determined to get into the morning screening of The Intruder at Ultrascreen 1, despite being told it was sold out, so I just turned up and said I'd wait and see if there were any spare seats once the film had started. As it happened I was allowed to walk into the cinema, help myself to a chair and just sit at the top of the aisle without being asked to leave - cool. The film was a Belgian thriller which held the attention while never quite being quite as riveting as the similarly themed Murk earlier in the festival. I had just enough time before my next film to grab a cocktail in the Jameson's bar with CJ, an American journalist, and then headed back to the cinema ready for Lars Von Trier's Manderlay. As it happened I was sat on the front row next to Claire - ideally placed for the Q&A with Willem Dafoe afterwards, but not so great for actually watching the 140 minute film. Then they announced that the Q&A would take place in the main hall rather than the cinema which rather negated the advantage of having front seats, so in the end Claire and I decided to abandon the film altogether and just attend the Q&A later!

Dianne Ladd & Roger Donaldson

We wandered back through the main hall just as the press conference for The World's Fastest Indian was finishing, with actress Dianne Ladd and director Roger Donaldson in attendance. Back in the Jameson's bar we took full advantage of their hospitality until we were joined by a couple of real 'characters' Jake and Antonio...

Nicholas Snow interviews Willem Dafoe

No-one seemed to know exactly where / when the Willem Dafoe event was going to be (communication to the festival staff has been an issue all week) but when we spotted the actor sat in the main hall we knew we were in the right place and we managed to grab front row seats before the rest of the audience spilled out of the Manderlay screening. The interview chaired by Nicholas Snow was the most entertaining one of this year's special events with Willem Dafoe looking completely relaxed and open to talk about all aspects of his career in films and acting.

Willem Dafoe

Having decided not to struggle through a non-subtitled screening of The Duelist I had a free evening ahead of me, so I ventured to The Londoner bar on Sukhumvit Soi 33 where I met up for a pint with Paul Spurrier. He's been invited to give a private screening of P to the head of Sahamongkol Films (the biggest film company in Thailand) on Monday evening so Paul is going to ask whether he can bring any friends along with him, as I'd love to see the film again.