Thai film A Useful Ghost wins Cannes Critics' Week top prize

Straits Times

22-05-2025

Comedy-fantasy A Useful Ghost, made with Singapore participation, has won the grand prize at the 2025 Critics' Week sidebar of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. PHOTO: MOMO FILM CO
Thai-language comedy-fantasy A Useful Ghost has won the top prize of the Grand Prix in Critics' Week, an independent sidebar of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
Directed by Thai film-maker Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke making his feature debut, it follows March (played by Thai actor Witsarut Himmarat), who is grieving the death of his wife Nat (Thai actress Davika Hoorne). After her reincarnation as a vacuum cleaner, they rekindle their relationship.
The film is produced by companies from Thailand, France and Germany. Singapore-based Momo Film Co is also a co-producer, with support from the Infocomm Media Development Authority's (IMDA) Singapore Film Commission (SFC).
The Cannes Film Festival, held in France, opened on May 13 and will end May 24.
Ms Tan Si En, founder and producer at Momo Film Co, says her team is deeply honoured by the recognition A Useful Ghost has received at Cannes' Critics' Week.
'This award is a celebration of the creative synergy between Singapore and our international partners. It shows the power that South-east Asian stories have to resonate globally. Our mission has always been to champion new voices and perspectives from the region, and this win affirms our collaborative approach,' she says in a press statement.
In 2023, Malay-language horror film Tiger Stripes (2023), the debut effort by Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu, won the Grand Prix at Cannes' Critics' Week, marking the first time that a film from South-east Asia had won the prize.
Tiger Stripes is co-produced by firms from Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Singapore. Singapore-based Akanga Film Asia co-produced it, with support from the SFC.
Other made-with-Singapore projects at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival include the drama Renoir, directed by Japanese film-maker Chie Hayakawa and co-produced by Akanga Film Asia. The Japanese-language film will compete for the top festival prize of the Palme d'Or.
Before The Sea Forgets, a short film by Vietnamese film-maker Le Ngoc Duy, was also selected to screen at the independent sidebar event Directors' Fortnight. Singapore-based production houses 13 Little Pictures and WBSB Films are co-producers.
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