EXCLUSIVE: TorinoFilmLab (TFL) has selected Thai director Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s 9 Temples To Heaven to receive a €50,000 production grant through the 2025 edition of its TFL Co-Production Fund.
9 Temples To Heaven marks Chidgasornpongse’s fiction debut after his 2016 feature documentary Railway Sleepers premiered at Berlinale Forum and Busan. He has long collaborated with fellow Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, working as assistant director and casting director.
The film centres on a man who embarks on a one-day pilgrimage to nine temples with his ailing mother and his family of nine, after hearing a prophecy from his boss that his mother may not have long to live.
Production of 9 Temples To Heaven began in Thailand this summer. The film is produced by Weerasethakul’s Thai studio Kick the Machine Films in co-production with Singapore’s E&W Films and France’s Petit Chaos.
Petit Chaos, which is benefiting from the fund, previously produced Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner All We Imagine As Light.
The TFL Co-Production Fund offers a €50,000 production grant along with tailor-made training sessions to support film teams through the final stages of production. 9 Temples To Heaven can also participate in the 18th TFL Meeting Event, which takes place from November 20-22.
The fund has previously backed documentary Past Future Continuous by Iranian directors Firouzeh Khosrovani and Morteza Ahmadvand, which was selected for Venice’s Giornate degli Autori this year, and Viet And Nam by Minh Quy Truong, which premiered last year in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
TFL funds coordinator Greta Fornari said: “The first fiction feature film by Thai filmmaker Sompot Chidgasornpongse is a graceful exploration of a family as a microcosm of society. This film masterfully balances artistic relevance with captivating narrative and humour, addressing socio-political issues through a strong cinematic vision and a unique tenderness that will undoubtedly touch the hearts of its viewers.”