ENTERING THE CINEMATIC WORLD WITH FICS, A CAFÉ BY NATTAWUT POONPIRIYA (BAZ) THE DIRECTOR BEHIND ‘BAD GENIUS’ AND ‘ONE FOR THE ROAD’
TEXT: PRATARN TEERATADA
PHOTO: KETSIREE WONGWAN EXCEPT AS NOTED
(For Thai, press here)
There are plenty of restaurants, bars, cafes or even hotels in the world that have themes revolving around film culture. Most of the time, these places tend to impress their prospective clients simply because film culture or cinema culture is a world that the masses finds to be accessible. At one point or another, everyone has imagined themselves being in a scene from their favorite movie, or a part of a certain memorable moment they saw in a film they adore.
When Nattawut Poonpiriya (Baz), one of Thailand’s world-class directors whose recent film, ‘One For the Road’ won one of the main awards from Sundance Film Festival 2021, decided to create a movie-themed café, we knew that it was going to be special. Sited in Soi Sukhumvit 31, FICS (film, inspired, coffee shop / concept store / community space) greets visitors with an entrance that looks like the front of an independent movie theater. It gives off a similar vibe to Bangkok Screening Room and shares certain sentiments with many other stand-alone movie theaters around the world.
Walking upstairs, one can see the space decorated with a pleasant collection of film-related props from VHS videos, movie posters, t-shirts, the Quentin Cappuccino mugs, etc.
One of the highlights of the decorations is the poster from the movie 37 ° 2 le matin or Betty Blue, an iconic French erotic psychological film by Jean-Jacques Beineix that all the film buffs from the 80s are familiar with. The opposite wall is clad with another set of posters of films from various genres, attracting the interests of a wider group of film lovers. With almost every corner thoughtfully curated to be “Instagrammable”, it’s unsurprising to see the patrons all dressed up with cameras of professional quality in hand, ready to pose in the cafes’ stylishly decorated scenes.
The climax, however, is on the upper floor of the café, called the Poster District. Walking past the door, you will encounter authentic, extra-large posters of movies like The Lobsters, Trainspotting, Pulp Fiction, A Clockwork Orange, etc., printed in the same year of each film’s release date. It’s pretty much like entering another world that will have all the film enthusiasts and avid movie poster collectors feeling giddy.
That is merely a synopsis of what FICS has in store for us. And we’re pretty sure the slogan “Film Lovers Are FICS People” also refers to us film buffs as well.