Not quite Cannes: Film fest kicks off with a party
No coffee or massage without the card. Scott Rosenberg makes his point, watched by amused sponsor Charn Wongstayanont of Phuket Jet Tour.
Around 100 people turned up at the Royal Phuket Marina last night for the official opening party of the 2010 Phuket Film Festival. Most were the usual suspects from Phuket, but there was also a sprinkling of movie people from Bangkok, specially invited for the event, along with Italian, American and Indian movie people whose films are showing during the festival.
But the gravitational centre of the evening was organiser Scott Rosenberg. As wide as a double-decker London bus, with a pate as shiny as the ball in a pinball machine. In his unmistakable light cream jacket, he binged around the centre courtyard of the marina like, well, like the ball in a pinball machine, issuing instructions to all and sundry.
A particular concern was that no one – and that means no one – should get a free coffee or a free neck and shoulder massage without first showing they had a special GIC Film Festival lifestyle card.
Brightening up the evening was Swedish-Chinese actress Ase Wang, fresh from filming of the made-in-Thailand movie, 'The Prince & Me: The Elephant Adventure'.
But now it was time for the speeches. Again, Mr Rosenberg dominated, giving thanks and conch-design trophies to all the sponsors. Well, most of them. Apparently the Red Shirt problem in Bangkok had resulted in the trophy makers coming up short on the order, so in many cases it was “Hold this for a photo. Now give it back. Don’t worry – you’ll get one. I promise.”
The situation was eased somewhat by the fact that some of the sponsors seemed to have forgotten about the event, including the main media sponsor. “Anyone here from…? No? A reporter maybe? No?” Ah well. One plastic conch saved.
Finally, the celebrities were lined up for a group photo. Lots of people took pictures, though whether they knew who they were photographing was not clear.
And then it started to rain in earnest.
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The Phuket Film Festival runs until June 13. A schedule of movie showings and events may be seen/downloaded here.
