On Thai Film Conservation Day (4 Oct 2026 GMT+7), the Film Archive (Public Organization) announced the 16th National Film Heritage list. This year, 12 valuable films were selected by a panel of experts, based on their importance in historical, cultural, and cinematic artistic dimensions.
The highlight of this year’s announcement was "Midnight My Love" (เฉิ่ม), a 2005 iconic drama by director Kongdej Jaturanrasmee. It tells the deep relationship between Sombat, a late-night taxi driver clinging to the past, and Nuan, a masseuse who accepts life’s harsh realities. Two opposite people come together to complete and overcome life’s challenges. At the event, the director and lead actors Mam Jokmok and Noon Woranuch Phromphakdi attended and congratulated the occasion, sharing their thoughts with the media.
Mam said, “It's hard to describe. Honestly, in my acting career, I’ve never been afraid of anyone. But Noon had a big influence on my feelings and performance. I couldn’t even look her in the face. During the hand-holding scenes, my palms sweated so much—I was shy. When looking at her, I glanced past her ear, avoiding eye contact because I was afraid I’d laugh. If I had missed this film, I don’t know if I’d ever get to act like this again in a hundred years or lifetimes.”
Noon said, “This was my first film. I had to adapt a lot and learned many things. I studied massage parlors and experienced the nightlife from many perspectives I had never seen before. It was very difficult and challenging.”
Additionally, 11 other historically valuable films and records were registered this year, including Khon (traditional Thai masked dance), the film archive of Dr. Boonsong Lekakul, a news crew’s journey to Red China and North Vietnam in 1957, the heroin production process, ethnographic film archives of Thailand from Encyclopedia Cinematographica, The Knight of the Magic Sword, facts about the October 6, 1976 incident, Our Land, WESTWÄRTS…Southeast Asian Women in the FRG, Century Light, and Dao Kanong.
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