Reel winners

Hong Kong filmmakers are benefiting from pan-Asian collaboration including synergies with their Thai counterparts. Mathew Scott reports.

The wholesome Thai coming-of-age drama You & Me & Me has been met with a warm reception wherever it has screened.

Starring first-timer Thitiya Jirapornsilp in the dual roles of twin sisters You and Me, it's a film that feels uniquely "Thai" - given the bucolic settings quite wonderfully framed by cinematographer Kritsada Nakagate - but it also taps into issues of youth that can resonate with audiences anywhere, such as dealing with first love and the looming shadow of adulthood. The fact that it has struck a chord globally is reflected in the fact that - as well as picking up nominations at film festivals in Osaka, the Italian city of Udine, and Beijing - You & Me & Me was in May among the top 10 non-English-language films being screened globally by the streaming giant Netflix.

Little wonder then that the film was chosen as part of a recent traveling Sawasdee Cinematheque program of Thai films. Cohosted by the Royal Thai Consulate-General, Hong Kong, and Macao's Cinematheque Passion art-house cinema, the program was run over a weekend in June, and was aimed at fostering filmmaking collaboration between Thailand, Hong Kong, Macao and the Chinese mainland.