{"id":943900,"date":"2026-10-28T11:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/943900\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T11:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:42:12","slug":"thai-forest-spirit-horror-cher-joins-tokyo-gap-financing-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/943900\/","title":{"rendered":"Thai Forest Spirit Horror ‘Cher’ Joins Tokyo Gap-Financing Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA Thai horror film built on the folklore of the Nang Mai, the forest nymphs of Thai myth, is the only Thai entry in the 2026 Tokyo Gap-Financing Market<\/a> lineup. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCher<\/a>\u201d arrives in Tokyo after becoming the first Thai project selected for, and awarded a top prize at, Canada\u2019s Fronti\u00e8res Co-Production Market.<\/p>\n

\n\tBenetone Films and Fearfolks are producing the feature, which Songsak Mongkolthong (\u201cGraveyard Horror,\u201d \u201cSchool Tales the Series\u201d) directs from a screenplay by Patrick Graham, writer of Netflix\u2019s \u201cGhoul\u201d and \u201cBetaal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRattanawadee \u201cMim\u201d Wongthong (\u201cDeath Whisperer\u201d) heads the cast, with Pae Arak and Weir Sukollawat (\u201c4 Tigers\u201d). Vikash Nowlakha, who shot the \u201cDhurandhar\u201d duology, is the cinematographer. The producers said those two Indian films earned a combined $330 million at the global box office.<\/p>\n

\n\tMongkolthong said the story raises the possibility that the Nang Mai, long part of Thai belief, may have different origins from the ones taught in Thailand.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe idea of starting a new life begins with confronting our own prejudices, anger, and hatred. When we learn to move beyond anger and hatred, a new life can begin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tBenetone Films CEO Rachvin Narula and COO Kulthep Narula said the company backed the project from the outset and treated it, as the studio\u2019s first tentpole, differently from the approach of other Thai studios.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are absolutely thrilled it is getting the global recognition it deserves so early on,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\n\tTokyo is the latest stop on a market run for the film. It was selected for the It Project market at the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF), part of South Korea\u2019s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), and won at Fronti\u00e8res in July.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are extremely grateful to BIFAN, Fronti\u00e8res and TIFFCOM for giving Thai films a voice on this global stage, and for allowing us to bear these great honors,\u201d said Fearfolks CEO Hans Audric Estialbo. \u201cPrestigious markets like TIFFCOM allow the film to build momentum and a community of followers early, which is what most successful IPs need now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFilming is due to start in the first three months of 2027, ahead of a global release in 2028.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Tokyo Gap-Financing Market runs as part of TIFFCOM, the content market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Thai horror film built on the folklore of the Nang Mai, the forest nymphs of Thai myth,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":943901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,45639,134,344,146009,116851],"class_list":["post-943900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cher","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-tokyo-gap-financing-market","tag-tokyo-international-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/943901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=943900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=943900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}