9 Temples to Heaven + Q&A

After years of working alongside Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Sompot Chidgasornpongse makes his fiction feature debut with a distinctive road movie – one could call it the Thai version of Little Miss Sunshine. When a fortune teller warns businessman Sakol that his elderly mother may soon die, he embarks on a one-day pilgrimage to nine Buddhist temples in the hope of changing her fate. Joined by his entire family, they travel from temple to temple, where ancient rituals gradually give way to long-suppressed tensions, quiet acts of care, and reflections on mortality. As the grandmother grows increasingly exhausted, the pilgrimage becomes less about warding off death and more about learning how to face it together. Infused with gentle humour and profound humanity, 9 Temples to Heaven is at once a Buddhist meditation on letting go, on the bonds between generations, and on the rituals that sustain the cycle we call life. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, the film is compelling proof that its director is a remarkably fresh, sensitive, and distinctive new auteur in Thai slow cinema.

Q&A with director Sompot Chidgasornpongse after the screening.

Cannes Film Festival 2026 – Quinzaine des Cinéastes (World Premiere)
New York Film Festival 2026

Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s short films have screened at numerous international festivals, while his first documentary, Railway Sleepers (2016), premiered at the Busan International Film Festival before screening at the Berlinale. Chidgasornpongse also worked for many years as assistant director to Apichatpong Weerasethakul on films including Tropical Malady, Syndromes and a Century, Cemetery of Splendour and Memoria. 9 Temples to Heaven marks his fiction feature debut.

Railway Sleepers (2016)

Original title: 9 วัด สู่สวรรค์ (9 Temples to Heaven)
Director: Sompot Chidgasornpongse
Cast: Amara Ramnarong, Surachai Ningsanond, Jirawut Chiwaruck, Yaneenan Jiraphatjittrin, Klaichan Phunman, Sompop Songkampol, Poon Sirapob, Yada Karnjanisakorn, Nichmon Shintadapong
Cinematography: Jonathan Ricquebourg
Screenwriter: Sompot Chidgasornpongse
Producers: Kissada Kamyoung, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Weijie Lai, Thomas Hakim, Julien Graf, Renée Hansen Mlodyszewski, Yue Huang, Charlie Kwong-Chun Fung, Giovanni Rahmadeva, Axel Hadiningrat
Editors: Tham Kattiyakul, Jirapat Mekkrajai, Daniel Hui, Sompot Chidgasornpongse
Sound: Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr, Chalermrat Kaweewattana, Lim Ting Li
Hungarian distributor: –
Colour: Colour
Run Time: 140 mins