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Pen-ek Ratanaruang is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter, Producer and Editor Thailandais born on 8 march 1962 at Bangkok (Thailande)

Pen-ek Ratanaruang

Pen-ek Ratanaruang
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Nationality Thailande
Birth 8 march 1962 (62 years) at Bangkok (Thailande)

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (Thai: เป็นเอก รัตนเรือง, born March 8, 1962 in Bangkok, Thailand) is a Thai film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his arthouse work, Last Life in the Universe, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. He goes by the nickname Tom and is sometimes credited as Tom Pannet.

Biography

Education and early career
Pen-Ek studied from 1977 to 1985 at the Pratt Institute in New York and worked as freelance illustrator and designer with Designframe.

In 1993, he started work at the Film Factory in Bangkok, where he worked with Wisit Sasanatieng. At Film Factory, Pen-Ek made several television commercials, for which he won numerous awards, including a bronze medal at the 1997 Cannes Lion Awards for a Clairol anti-dandruff shampoo spot entitled "Dance".


Debut film, international recognition
He made his debut feature film, Fun Bar Karaoke in 1997. It's the story of a young woman named Pu whose father falls in love with a hostess girl who's the girlfriend of a mobster. A hitman named Noi (Ray McDonald) is dispatched to kill the father, and Pu ends up falling in love with Noi. Far Bar Karaoke was screened at many film festivals after its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

Pen-Ek's second film, Ruang Talok 69 (6ixtynin9), is another crime comedy. In it, a young woman (Lalita Panyopas) finds an instant noodle box filled with money that has been mistakenly placed at her doorstep and she runs afoul of some mobsters. The film was Thailand's submission to the 73rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film in 1999. It was also screened at the Rotterdam Film Festival and other festivals.

His third film, Monrak Transistor (Transistor Love Story), is a bittersweet Thai country music love story involving a young man named Pan (Supakorn Kitsuwon) who marries his sweetheart (Siriyakorn Pukkavesh), is drafted into the military and then goes absent without leave to pursue his dreams of being a singer. The film premiered at the Director's Fortnight event at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. It was also submitted by Thailand to the 75th Academy Awards.

Pen-Ek served as editor for director Nonzee Nimibutr's 2003 film, OK Baytong, and was the narrator on Wisit Sasanatiang's 2004 film, Citizen Dog.

In 2004, Pen-Ek was among the artists receiving the inaugural Silpathorn Award by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture of Thailand. The award is given annually to contemporary artists.


Pan-Asian concepts
For his fourth film, Last Life in the Universe, he teamed up with writer Prabda Yoon, cinematographer Christopher Doyle and Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano. Asano portrays a Japanese man on the run from the yakuza in Thailand. It also features Japanese director Takashi Miike in a small role as a yakuza. It was selected for competition at the Rotterdam festival, won the best actor award for Asano at the Venice International Film Festival and was Thailand's submission to the 2003 Academy Awards.

Pen-Ek worked again with Prabda, Doyle and Asano on Invisible Waves, about a Japanese chef who commits a murder in Macau and flees to Thailand. The film also stars Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang and Korean actress Kang Hye-jung. It was selected for competition at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival, where it had its world premiere. Invisible Waves was also the opening film for the 2006 Bangkok International Film Festival, where it also was in competition.

Pen-Ek was selected to take part in the Digital Short Films by Three Directors project at the 2006 Jeonju International Film Festival. He directed a short called Twelve Twenty, about a young man (Ananda Everingham) who falls in love with a woman he sees on the other side of an airport terminal, and then fantasizes about her throughout a 12-hour, 20-minute airline flight. Christopher Doyle provided cinematography and was also featured in the film as the pilot. The other filmmakers taking part in the project were Singapore's Eric Khoo and Darezhan Omirbayev from Khazakstan.


Recent works
Also in 2006, Pen-Ek directed a short documentary, Total Bangkok, about an amateur football league that plays matches on a concrete pitch underneath an elevated expressway in Bangkok. The 21-minute film was sponsored by Nike. Pen-Ek is a lifelong football fan.

Pen-Ek then returned to screenwriting with Ploy, which he submitted to the 2006 Pusan International Film Festival's Pusan Promotion Project in an effort to secure funding. The film was screened at the Director's Fortnight at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Lalita Panyopas, who starred in Ruang Talok 69, returned to lead the cast, portraying a wife who grows jealous and angry after her husband befriends a teen-age girl. The film, which also stars Ananda Everingham and Porntip Papanai, was censored in Thailand due to sex scenes. Pen-Ek created a special Thai print of the film for its theatrical run there. Ploy was screened at several other film festivals, including the 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival, the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema (where it won the FIPRESCI award), the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

In 2007, Pen-Ek directed a segment for Short Films Project in Commemoration of the Celebration on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King's 80th Birthday Anniversary, created in honor of King Bhumibol Adulyadej by the Ministry of Culture's Office of Contemporary Arts and Culture. The project featured nine films by 10 directors, including fellow Silpathorn Award winners Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul and veteran filmmaker Bhandit Rittakol.

For his segment, Siang Sawan (Luminous Sound), Pen-Ek chose to interview blind pianist Sila Namthao, letting the musician perform some of the songs composed by the king, and talk about his inspirations and life.

"We don't know the King well enough to make a film about him, so this is more like a present that someone would give him on a royal visit," Pen-Ek explained in an interview. "If everyone were blind, perhaps our desires would be fewer and more simple. This has echoes of the king's sufficiency theory, and I hope the film will bring it home to the audience," Pen-ek said.

Also in 2007, Pen-Ek was invited by the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival to present two of his short films, Total Bangkok and Twelve Twenty, as well as a collection of his commercials, in a program called Total Pen-Ek.

His 2011 film Headshot was selected as the Thai entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Pen-ek Ratanaruang (11 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Citizen Dog, 1h40
Directed by Wisit Sasanatieng
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Actors Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Roles Narrator (voice)
Rating72% 3.6414453.6414453.6414453.6414453.641445
Pod is a country boy who moves to Bangkok, despite his grandmother's warning that he'll grow a tail. He finds a small house to live in and takes a job in a sardine cannery, getting rides to work on the back of a motorcycle taxi, the rider of which has been made a zombie after one day it rained motorcycle helmets and he wasn't wearing one.

Director

Headshot
Headshot (2011)
, 1h45
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Actors Cris Horwang
Rating61% 3.0508953.0508953.0508953.0508953.050895
A cop-turned-hitman is struck in the head by a bullet and now sees the world upside down.
Nymph
Nymph (2009)
, 1h49
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Origin Thailande
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Fantasy, Horror
Actors Nopachai Jayanama, Porntip Papanai
Rating61% 3.0521953.0521953.0521953.0521953.052195
May is a city woman who has everything she could ask for. Her long-time husband, Nop, showers love and attention on her. But fate or desire play tricks on the couple who watches their lives drift by without much thought or reflection, and May starts an affair with Korn, himself a married man. One day Nop, a professional photographer, is assigned to take a trip into the forest to film its wildlife. He decides to bring his wife along. But the journey slowly reveals how the invisible weight of their urban lifestyle haunts them like a spectre. When her husband fails to return to the tent, May sets out to look for him and then Nop returns. But the forest has changed him into someone else.
Ploy
Ploy (2007)
, 1h45
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Origin Thailande
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Lalita Panyopas, Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Ananda Everingham, Porntip Papanai
Rating66% 3.341193.341193.341193.341193.34119
The death of a relative brings a Thai-American couple, Wit and Dang, back to Bangkok for the first time in many years. Arriving at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 5 a.m., they check in to a hotel in the city. Suffering from jet lag, Dang wants to sleep, but her husband Wit is restless and heads down to the hotel bar to buy some cigarettes. While unpacking their luggage, Dang finds a small paper with a phone number of a woman named Noy, and she is immediately suspicious.
Invisible Waves, 1h55
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Origin Thailande
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Actors Tadanobu Asano, Kang Hye-jeong, Maria Cordero, Ken Mitsuishi, Eric Tsang
Rating64% 3.244193.244193.244193.244193.24419
Kyoji is a cook living in Macau. He works for a Thai restaurant in Hong Kong and has been having an affair with Seiko, the wife of his boss, Wiwat, who orders Kyoji to poison her. After the deed is done, Kyoji is ordered to leave Hong Kong. He consults with the mysterious Monk, who gives him money and advice to contact Lizard. Kyoji then boards a cruise ship, and is given a small, dreary cabin belowdecks, where nothing seems to work properly. In trying to find his way back topside, he gets lost. Finally, up on deck, he meets Noi. Noi has a baby named Nid, whom Kyoji finds hanging on the deck rail in a harness, where Noi left the child while she was swimming. Eventually, the ship reaches its destination, Phuket, Thailand, where real life-or-death adventures begin for Kyoji as he starts to put the pieces together about what he's done.
Last Life in the Universe, 1h52
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Origin Thailande
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy-drama, Action, Romance
Actors Tadanobu Asano, Laila Boonyasak, Yutaka Matsushige, Takashi Miike, Riki Takeuchi, Yōji Tanaka
Rating74% 3.746543.746543.746543.746543.74654
Kenji is a lonely librarian in the Japan Foundation in Bangkok. Living in an apartment full of precise stacks of books, his half-hearted attempts to kill himself are continually interrupted by the people around him. Kenji's most notable obstacle is his self-absorbed brother, Yukio, a yakuza, or Japanese gangster. Yukio fled from Japan to escape the wrath of his employer, with whose daughter he had had sex. Yukio's friend Takashi suggests that if it were his daughter, he would have the despoiler killed, but Kenji's brother laughs this warning off. Yukio frequents a club where he can enjoy the attention of a bunny-eared hostess, a local girl named Nid. Nid's sister, Noi, is furious at her sibling for having slept with her boyfriend, Jon.
Transistor Love Story, 1h56
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Origin Thailande
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Musical theatre, Romantic comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Suppakorn Kitsuwan, Siriyakorn Pukkavesa, Porntip Papanai
Rating72% 3.637753.637753.637753.637753.63775
The story begins in a jail, where a prisoner is being interrogated. The action is taking place in the background, behind bars and is blurred. The focus is on a bottle of laxative. Seems the prisoner has stolen a necklace and swallowed it. Soon, the necklace is passed. And it's not even real gold.
6ixtynin9
6ixtynin9 (1999)
, 1h55
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Origin Thailande
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Action, Crime
Actors Lalita Panyopas
Rating71% 3.5929053.5929053.5929053.5929053.592905
Tum is a secretary working for a bank when the company is forced to shed staff. As the boss could not bear to select which staff to fire, he uses the Kau Cim to determine who must leave. Tum draws one of the unlucky numbers and is laid off. Back at her apartment building, she finds the elevator is out of order, and is somewhat bothered by a young man who is a little too helpful. She is nonetheless accommodating and friendly. Once alone, though, she envisions all kinds of suicidal scenarios, including drinking household cleaning chemicals or blowing her head off with a handgun.
Fun Bar Karaoke, 1h43
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Origin Thailande
Genres Drama, Comedy, Crime
Actors Ray MacDonald, Yongyoot Thongkongtoon
Rating65% 3.2734753.2734753.2734753.2734753.273475
Pu is a young woman who is having some bad dreams. Her father, meanwhile, has fallen in love with a karaoke bar hostess girl named Yok who's the girlfriend of a mobster. A hitman named Noi is then dispatched to kill the father, and Pu ends up falling in love with Noi.

Scriptwriter

Headshot
Headshot (2011)
, 1h45
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Actors Cris Horwang
Rating61% 3.0508953.0508953.0508953.0508953.050895
A cop-turned-hitman is struck in the head by a bullet and now sees the world upside down.
Nymph
Nymph (2009)
, 1h49
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Origin Thailande
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Fantasy, Horror
Actors Nopachai Jayanama, Porntip Papanai
Rating61% 3.0521953.0521953.0521953.0521953.052195
May is a city woman who has everything she could ask for. Her long-time husband, Nop, showers love and attention on her. But fate or desire play tricks on the couple who watches their lives drift by without much thought or reflection, and May starts an affair with Korn, himself a married man. One day Nop, a professional photographer, is assigned to take a trip into the forest to film its wildlife. He decides to bring his wife along. But the journey slowly reveals how the invisible weight of their urban lifestyle haunts them like a spectre. When her husband fails to return to the tent, May sets out to look for him and then Nop returns. But the forest has changed him into someone else.
Ploy
Ploy (2007)
, 1h45
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Origin Thailande
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Lalita Panyopas, Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Ananda Everingham, Porntip Papanai
Roles Ecrivain
Rating66% 3.341193.341193.341193.341193.34119
The death of a relative brings a Thai-American couple, Wit and Dang, back to Bangkok for the first time in many years. Arriving at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 5 a.m., they check in to a hotel in the city. Suffering from jet lag, Dang wants to sleep, but her husband Wit is restless and heads down to the hotel bar to buy some cigarettes. While unpacking their luggage, Dang finds a small paper with a phone number of a woman named Noy, and she is immediately suspicious.
Last Life in the Universe, 1h52
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Origin Thailande
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy-drama, Action, Romance
Actors Tadanobu Asano, Laila Boonyasak, Yutaka Matsushige, Takashi Miike, Riki Takeuchi, Yōji Tanaka
Rating74% 3.746543.746543.746543.746543.74654
Kenji is a lonely librarian in the Japan Foundation in Bangkok. Living in an apartment full of precise stacks of books, his half-hearted attempts to kill himself are continually interrupted by the people around him. Kenji's most notable obstacle is his self-absorbed brother, Yukio, a yakuza, or Japanese gangster. Yukio fled from Japan to escape the wrath of his employer, with whose daughter he had had sex. Yukio's friend Takashi suggests that if it were his daughter, he would have the despoiler killed, but Kenji's brother laughs this warning off. Yukio frequents a club where he can enjoy the attention of a bunny-eared hostess, a local girl named Nid. Nid's sister, Noi, is furious at her sibling for having slept with her boyfriend, Jon.
Transistor Love Story, 1h56
Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Origin Thailande
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Musical theatre, Romantic comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Suppakorn Kitsuwan, Siriyakorn Pukkavesa, Porntip Papanai
Rating72% 3.637753.637753.637753.637753.63775
The story begins in a jail, where a prisoner is being interrogated. The action is taking place in the background, behind bars and is blurred. The focus is on a bottle of laxative. Seems the prisoner has stolen a necklace and swallowed it. Soon, the necklace is passed. And it's not even real gold.