Thai film 9 Temples to Heaven, directed by Sompot Chidgasornpongse, has been selected as Thailand’s entry for the 99th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.
The selection was made by the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations. The film will open in Thai cinemas on 17 September 2026, following its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
The family drama follows nine relatives who set out to visit nine temples in a single day after a prophecy warns that their grandmother could die before her upcoming birthday. Hoping to make merit and ward off bad luck, the family’s journey gradually exposes differences in beliefs and tensions between generations.
The film premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 79th Cannes Film Festival in May and has since screened at festivals around the world.
It won Best Director for Sompot and Best Actor for Sompop Songkampol at the Shanghai International Film Festival, followed by Best Film at the New Zealand International Film Festival.
The film will also open the Bangkok International Film Festival on 13 September, ahead of its Thai cinema release.
Sompot said the film was inspired by his own experiences visiting temples with his family and observing how beliefs and perspectives differed across generations.
“I believe many people will be able to relate the situations in the film and its nine main characters to their own experiences and those of other members of their families,” he said.
9 Temples to Heaven is Sompot’s feature debut after his 2016 documentary Railway Sleepers. He spent nine years making the film, which is produced by Kick the Machine Films and At A Time Pictures with international co-production partners.
The 99th Academy Awards will take place in 2027, with nominees for Best International Feature Film to be announced at a later date.
