OK, so you don’t actually get to go inside and peek around the ambassador’s residences — but the 27th annual European Union Film Festival, starting Thursday and running through Dec. 17, allows us normal people access to several ambassador’s residences to watch 19 European films being shown in the yards of 10 fantastic homes.
This festival happens annually at this time, but in the past they’ve done it at a movie theater — SF Cinema for the last several years — and the tickets cost THB120. This year, in observance of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, the movies will show at the homes.
Even better, admission is free and so is the popcorn. You’ll need to RSVP if you want to get a seat to see Mademoiselle Paradis, about a blind pianist in 18th-century Vienna; Transit, the story of a man who flees France after the Nazi invasion; The Commune, which offers a peek at life in a community living situation; Al Berto, about a writer in the summer of ’75 in Sines, Portugal; Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander, and many others.
The film venues includes the residences of the Danish, Portuguese, Belgian, Austrian, Dutch, Italian, and British ambassadors. Many of these homes are colonial-era beautiful old houses with grounds and gardens to match. They are worth a look, even without the films. Among the residences are old-school tropical mansions, stately old Tudor-looking homes, and even the ultra-modern Austrian offering.
Who knows? If you say you need to use the bathroom, you might even get a look inside. Don’t forget your ID to get on the grounds, though.
FIND IT:
European Union Film Festival
Daily, from Nov. 29 – Dec. 17
Free entry, but RSVP here
Various residences around the city
