The Maestro: A Symphony Of Terror, a new Thai film, is scheduled to make its gala premiere at the prestigious Oldenburg International Film Festival in Lower Saxony, Germany, on Sept 19.
One of the few participating films shot during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it is a collaboration between British director Paul Spurrier (The Forest, Eullenia) and Thai composer-conductor Somtow Sucharitkul.
Spurrier produced, shot, and edited the film, while Somtow co-produced, wrote the script and score and made a cameo as a surreal version of himself.
The film features on-screen performances by Siam Sinfonietta, Thailand’s world-renowned youth orchestra that has played to accolades across Germany, in addition to Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, and other great concert venues around Asia and the Middle East.
The composer and director are close friends and had worked together on Spurrier’s twisted serial killer mini-series, Eullenia, which is available on Amazon Prime.
The movie project started six months ago after the pandemic had cancelled live concerts and no films were being made. Somtow was looking for a way to create work for both their musicians and film crews while Spurrier came up with a movie about a mad composer who abducts a youth orchestra to create a musical utopia in a crumbling old mansion, a paradise that quickly becomes a nightmare.
Somtow put on his screenwriting hat and wrote the script. Spurrier shot the entire film himself, taking advantage of lockdown filming that was allowed only under controlled conditions.
