Thailand Picks '9 Temples to Heaven' for Oscar Submission
Thailand has selected 9 Temples to Heaven, Sompot Chidgasornpongse's ensemble drama about a family's one-day temple pilgrimage, as its submission for the international feature film category at the 99th Academy Awards (Variety).
The National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations, the body known as MPC that oversees the selection, announced the choice on 26 August 2026. A specialist committee drawn from across the Thai film industry — directors, producers, distributors and theatre operators — worked through 51 eligible titles before settling on a shortlist of eight, then a winner.
The film follows Sakol, who gathers his family for a ritual journey across nine temples after a fortune teller warns him his elderly mother may die soon. It debuted earlier in 2026 in the Directors' Fortnight, the parallel section at the Cannes Film Festival — the first Thai feature selected for that strand since 2007 (Screen Daily). It is set to open the 2026 Bangkok International Film Festival (Screen Daily).
Chidgasornpongse spent more than two decades as assistant director to Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the Thai film-maker who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2010. He worked on Tropical Malady, Syndromes and a Century, Cemetery of Splendour and Memoria. Weerasethakul also produced 9 Temples to Heaven alongside Kissada Kamyoung through their companies Kick The Machine Films and At A Time in Thailand (Deadline). The production drew co-production partners from six countries: E&W Films (Singapore), petit chaos (France), Needle in the Haystack (Norway), La Fonte (China), Square One Film (Hong Kong) and Qun Films (Indonesia). International sales are handled by Playtime. The project also received support from the Purin Film Fund and a TorinoFilmLab co-production grant (Purin Film Fund, Facebook).
Thailand has submitted films for the international feature category since 1984 and has sent 33 entries in total without once reaching the nominations stage. The country came closest at the 97th Academy Awards, when How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies became the first Thai film to crack the Academy's 15-film shortlist — the semi-final round before the final five nominees are named.
From here, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will reduce all national submissions to that 15-film shortlist, then announce five nominees. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for 14 March 2027. To qualify, a feature film must have had a qualifying theatrical release between 1 January and 31 December 2026 (Oscars press release).
For a director stepping out from behind a long career as someone else's right hand, the selection puts his first solo work on cinema's widest competitive stage.
