MEETINGS 2013-2015

Tuesday, 15th October 2015.

A talk by Philip Jablon

The Talk:
At present, Chiang Mai is home to more than 30 movie screens; by far the most ever in the city’s history. Despite the vast number of screens, the selection of movies playing is perhaps the least diverse it has ever been. All of these active screens, moreover, are located in one of Chiang Mai’s 5 shopping malls. 

The Saeng Tawan Theater, located at the southern end of Chang Klan Road, is Chiang Mai’s only remaining stand-alone movie theater. For the past 10 or more years it has stood as a blighted southern bookend of upper Chang Klan Road. While recent investments by a national level property developer portend big changes to the area, there has been little discussion of reactivating the Saeng Tawan as an arts center/movie theater.

This presentation will look at the potential of a revived Saeng Tawan Theater to help revitalize Chiang Mai’s “Night Bazaar” area. It will examine other cases of dormant stand-alone movie theaters being revived in cities around the world, and how such investments have stimulated the growth of the local creative economy.

Chiang Mai is sorely in need of a world class film/performing arts theater, and with the Saeng Tawan, it has a
unique opportunity to develop one. 

The Speaker:       
Philip Jablon is a Philadelphia-born researcher affiliated with Chiang Mai University. Since
2009 he has combined his passions for smart urban development and film into a multifaceted campaign to salvage some of Southeast Asia’s stand-alone movie theaters.
Through photo-journalism and advocacy he has played a role in the resurrection of the Nang Loeng Cinema in Bangkok. He aims to extend this model to other cities throughout ASEAN with his Movie Theater Preservation Initiative, which is now in the network of the Luang Prabang Fund for Culture and Conservation.

Want to read more? ....click "HERE" (PDF File for downloading or reading on line - 7 pages).