Jeremy Colson

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THE DATES of the third edition of Thailand’s Phangan Film Festival (PFF) have now been fixed for 12-14 February 2010, with approximately 20 films scheduled for screening over three evenings.

PFF's themes are Nature and Spirit, and although there are no restrictions on genre or style, submitted films must relate to one or both festival themes.

The festival is looking for films that explore spiritual traditions as well as films that focus on environmental subjects such as climate, water, energy, agriculture/food systems, low-impact sustainable architecture, environmental restoration, biodiversity, advocacy, human impacts, policy, natural resource scarcity and natural history.

Films will be selected on the basis of achievement in form and content.

The festival website states that PFF “wants to show inspiring films that promote awareness, generate more profound reflection upon contemporary themes and current affairs, enlighten, empower, stimulate debate, and encourage positive action among festival-goers.”

PFF director Julien Balmer says they have invited a number of filmmakers and producers to conduct workshops at this year’s PFF. Also this year, for the first time, there will be a Thai film showcase.

Looking ahead, Mr Balmer said his vision was that PFF “becomes, in time, a larger event including music, dance, discourses - a festival in celebration of the human spirit of sorts, where people meet and connect on a deeper level than is usual at regular film fests.

"I’d like it to be a platform that promotes harmony, non-violence, spiritual activism, eco-spirituality, and implicitly, environmentalism,” he added.

“The Phangan Film Festival grew out of a pure love for meaningful independent filmmaking. Additionally, we are world travellers who rejoice in the cross-cultural expansion that subtly transforms all those who wander far and wide, and we embrace film as a medium for this soul-level evolution.

“We are committed to providing the local community as well as travellers to this beautiful tropical island with a diverse presentation of high-quality independent films from around the world,” he told FilmFestivals.com

Submission deadlines for PFF 2010 are: Late Late Deadline – November 30; Almost Christmas Deadline – December 22; Withoutabox Extended Deadline – January 05, 2010. Full details at www.phanganfilmfestival.com/festival.html