From Plantation Songs to Military Juntas, Purin Film Fund Backs Six Southeast Asian Projects

The Purin Film Fund, a Bangkok-based nonprofit supporting independent cinema in Southeast Asia, has announced six projects selected for its Spring 2026 funding session. The fund will distribute a total of $160,000 in production and post-production grants to filmmakers from the region. Four projects received production grants, including two fiction films: “Dear Son An,” about a young boy coping with his mother’s terminal illness, and “Little Phnom Penh,” which explores a Cambodian woman’s search for belonging across time and continents. Two documentaries also secured production funding, focusing on resistance against military rule and the impact of foreign fishing vessels on local communities. In addition to production support, two documentary projects were awarded post-production grants. “Araro Ariraro” uses Tamil plantation folk songs to explore family memory and colonial history, while “The People Outside” follows a filmmaker investigating longstanding conflict in the rural Philippines. Production grants for fiction films were valued at $30,000 each, documentary production grants at $15,000 each, and post-production grants at $35,000 each. The Purin Film Fund, established in 2017 under the Purin Foundation, aims to nurture independent Southeast Asian cinema through funding, exhibition, and education. Co-director Aditya Assarat noted the increasing competitiveness of the fund due to a record number of submissions, despite the limited number of funding organizations in the region. The fund’s support is seen as vital for filmmakers tackling diverse social and political issues, including military juntas, historical memory, and displacement. Applications for the Fall 2026 session will open on August 1, continuing the fund’s mission to elevate voices and stories from Southeast Asia’s independent film community. The selected projects reflect a broad range of themes and formats, highlighting the region’s dynamic and evolving cinematic landscape.