Vittaya Yoondorn
Pattaya officials are launching a new effort to win
United Nations designation as a “city of film.”
Burapha University academics hosted simultaneous seminars
at Pattaya City Hall Aug. 9 with public- and private-sector representatives
on the proposal to again nominate Pattaya for the UNESCO award already given
to Sydney, Australia and to Bradford, England.
Naowasit Rakbumrung, vice
director of Burapha’s Academic Office, is spearheading a second effort to
win a United Nations designation as a “city of film.”
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome submitted an application to the
U.N. organization in July 2011, which was turned down. Undeterred, city
officials are looking at a new strategy that splits film-industry
development between the public and private quarters.
Naowasit Rakbumrung, vice director of Burapha’s Academic
Office, met with private sector representatives while communications
professor Rachanee Wongusmit worked with city and Chonburi provincial
officials. They reviewed regulations and features required to win
international acclaim, arguing Thailand has built a foundation for
filmmaking with its culture, landscape and art. They said Thailand’s
offerings were at least as good as other countries and noted several movies
have been filmed in Pattaya.
Film is one of seven categories established by UNESCO’s
Cultural Cities Network to honor “centers of excellence” in literature,
music, crafts and folk art, design, media arts, gastronomy and film. The
published qualifications to win a “city of film” designation, however, don’t
favor Pattaya.
UNESCO says a city of film must have “notable
infrastructure related to film-making,” such as movie studios; “notable
links to the production, distribution and commercialization of films,” and
“cinematographic legacy,” such as archives, museums and private collections.
In their first bid, Thai officials leaned heavily on
lesser prerequisites, such as being a host to film festivals and screenings,
being the birthplace or residence of film creators, and having the city
depicted on film.
An attending official from the Culture Ministry’s
Contemporary Art and Culture Office claimed Bradford won because its
National Museum of Communications and Film Institute had the first IMAX 3D
cinema and its Picturevill Cinema is regarded as the best in England. Sydney
won designation, he said, because of its unique landscape and is home to
three large studios.
