The Most Famous
FILM DIRECTORS from Thailand
This page contains a list of the greatest Thai Film Directors. The pantheon dataset contains 2,041 Film Directors, 2 of which were born in Thailand. This makes Thailand the birth place of the 63rd most number of Film Directors behind Belarus, and Burkina Faso.
Top 2
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Thai Film Directors of all time. This list of famous Thai Film Directors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Apichatpong Weerasethakul (b. 1970)
With an HPI of 46.69, Apichatpong Weerasethakul is the most famous Thai Film Director. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages on wikipedia.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thai: อภิชาติพงศ์ วีระเศรษฐกุล; RTGS: Aphichatphong Wirasetthakun; IPA: [ʔà.pʰí.tɕʰâːt.pʰōŋ wīː.rá.sèːt.tʰà.kūn], born 16 July 1970) is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, film producer and Professor at Tama Art University in Tokyo. Working outside the strict confines of the Thai film studio system, Apichatpong has directed several features and dozens of short films. Friends and fans sometimes refer to him as "Joe" (a nickname that he, like many with similarly long Thai names, has adopted out of convenience). His feature films include Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, winner of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or; Tropical Malady, which won the Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival; Blissfully Yours, which won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard program at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival; Syndromes and a Century, which premiered at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival and was the first Thai film to be entered in competition there; and Cemetery of Splendour, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim. Apichatpong has received numerous additional accolades, including the 2016 Principal Prince Claus Award and the eighth edition of the Artes Mundi Prize. His first English-language film was Memoria, a 2021 international collaboration set in Colombia. Themes reflected in his films include dreams, nature, sexuality (including his own homosexuality), and Western perceptions of Thailand and Asia, and his films display a preference for unconventional narrative structures and for working with non-actors. Apichatpong has also widely exhibited in galleries, including FACT in Liverpool, and the BFI Gallery in London, the contemporary art space within BFI Southbank.
2. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (b. 1962)
With an HPI of 40.14, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang is the 2nd most famous Thai Film Director. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Thai: เป็นเอก รัตนเรือง; RTGS: Pen-ek Rattanarueang; born 8 March 1962, Bangkok, Thailand) is a Thai film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his arthouse work, Last Life in the Universe, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. He goes by the nickname Tom and is sometimes credited as Tom Pannet.
People
Pantheon has 2 people classified as Thai film directors born between 1962 and 1970. Of these 2, 2 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Thai film directors include Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Pen-Ek Ratanaruang.
