Two October film screenings at Bangkok’s TK Park: Japanese community and Malaysian women’s basketball
Sunset Sunrise screens on October 25 and Padu on October 31, both at 4pm, with reservations required and a THB20 daily space-entry fee for non-members.
Bangkok’s 2026 Contemporary World Film Series at TK Park closes its October programme with two Asian films. Japan’s Sunset Sunrise screens on October 25, followed by Malaysia’s Padu on October 31, both at 4pm local time. The venue is TK Park in the eighth-floor Dazzle Zone at centralwOrld. A community story and a sports team provide different entries into how people live together.
A newcomer meets a Japanese coastal town
Directed by Yoshiyuki Kishi, Sunset Sunrise places its story on Japan’s Sanriku coast during the pandemic. An outsider’s arrival in a close local community alters existing relationships. Beyond what a newcomer brings, viewers can notice how residents understand their own lives and how a stranger learns the practices of a place.
A town can easily be reduced to scenery, while film has time to reveal relationships within it. Tables, work, neighbours and movement turn joining a community into specific actions. Taking that question into the screening allows more than a contrast between coast and city. It opens attention to people finding relationships beyond their initial expectations.
Padu brings a team’s diversity forward
Faisal Ishak’s Padu takes inspiration from Malaysia’s women’s national basketball team, exploring teamwork, persistence and connections between members of different backgrounds. A sports film has a clear result, but shared training also reveals how differences are negotiated and personal ambitions become part of a collective goal.
Padu draws inspiration from the experience of Malaysia’s women’s basketball team.
Seeing the films close together creates a comparison. One begins with a local community and the other with a team, yet both ask people to reconsider their positions in relation to others. They need not supply identical answers. Living together and competing together can illuminate each other as viewing questions.
How do the venue, reservation and THB20 fee differ?
Both screenings require advance seat reservations through filmforum17@gmail.com. Non-members also pay TK Park’s THB20 daily space-entry fee. This is separate from a commercial cinema ticket and should not be presented as a package price for both films. The Japanese screening is supported by the Embassy of Japan and the Japan Foundation; the Malaysian screening is supported by the Malaysian embassy.
For two consecutive weekends, reserve by film and date before planning an afternoon arrival. TK Park is a reading and learning space as well as a meeting place for international stories through this series. From a Sanriku town to Malaysian women’s basketball, these screenings offer time in Bangkok to encounter unfamiliar lives through specific people and situations.
