Thailand adds 12 entries to national film heritage register
The 2026 selections bring the register to 275 films and include works connected to the 50th anniversary of the 6 October 1976 violence.
Thailand’s Ministry of Culture has announced 12 films and collections chosen for National Film Heritage registration in 2026. Permanent secretary Prasop Riang-ngoen announced the selections following a ceremony at the Thai Film Archive on 4 October.
The archive received 323 nominated titles from more than 1,200 members of the public. Those submissions and works held in its preservation collection were assessed by a committee of 34 members from different professions, considering historical importance and effects on society, culture and the arts.
Two entries relate to the 50th anniversary of the violence on 6 October 1976. Facts Concerning the Events of 6 October 1976 was made after the crackdown and presents the state security authorities’ perspective. Anocha Suwichakornpong’s By the Time It Gets Dark (2016) examines the events and their legacy through cinematic interpretation.
Other selections include Midnight My Love (2005), starring Mum Jokmok and Woranuch Bhirombhakdi, and Our Land (1976), adapted from a novel by Malai Chupinit. Syndromes and a Century (2006), also selected, was the first Thai film admitted to Venice’s main competition. Its subsequent censorship in Thailand prompted public debate and calls to end film censorship.
The register also gains Khon, a silent recording of a royal masked dance performance made in 1929, and Dr. Boonsong Lekagul’s Film Archive, containing approximately 22 hours of footage made between 1947 and 1987. The annual registration programme began in 2011 and marks Thai Film Conservation Day on 4 October.
