The best movie screenings in Bangkok right now

Produced by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and premiered in Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s 9 Temples to Heaven is Thailand’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards. Sompot won best director at the Shanghai International Film Festival, while the film picked up the Fresh Competition Award at the New Zealand International Film Festival. It opens the BKKIFF at ICONSIAM on September 13, then goes on nationwide release on September 17, with House Samyan among the cinemas screening it. The  family drama follows nine relatives visiting nine temples in one day in the hope of changing their grandmother’s fate – a proper homecoming for one of Thailand’s most closely watched arthouse releases of the year.

Where: House Samyan, 5/F Samyan Mitrtown, South zone.
When: Nationwide from September 17; BKKIFF opening gala September 13 at ICONSIAM.
Tickets: Standard House Samyan pricing via the House Cinema app or housesamyan.com.

BKKIFF returns with more than 150 films, a market bringing together 50 international buyers, and a red-carpet opening presided over by Princess Ubolratana. Participating cinemas include SF World Cinema at CentralWorld, Paragon Cineplex, ICON CINECONIC, House Samyan and Doc Club & Friends. Song Wat is the festival's official hangout zone, with Bangkok Art Festival screenings and exhibitions also taking over the district from September 14-20. Think of it as an excuse to cinema-hop across Bangkok for a fortnight.

Where: Cinemas citywide, with Song Wat as the festival’s social hub.
When: September 13-27.
Tickets: Via participating cinemas and BKKIFF’s official channels.

This is more of a standing recommendation than a one-off, though September carries extra weight. Sala Saneha is dedicating the month to actor Ray MacDonald, who died in August aged 49. The line-up includes two of his best-known films: Fun Bar Karaoke, which earned him best actor at the Suphannahong National Film Awards, and Dear Galileo, for which he later won best supporting actor at the Kom Chad Luek Awards. Also showing are an exclusive preview of Sivaroj Kongsakul’s Regretfully at Dawn – his follow-up to Eternity – ahead of its nationwide release, Sean Penn’s Into the Wild and Japanese festival favourite Love on Trial. The documentary Untold Story also gets a two-night run on September 19-20. Titles rotate weekly in a 25-seat screening room, usually with English subtitles, in a space that feels more jazz bar than cinema – which is precisely the appeal.

Where: 9/1 Thanon Decho, Suriyawong, Bang Rak.
When: Open Thursday–Monday, 6pm–midnight; the September line-up runs September 1–30, with Untold Story on September 19-20 only.
Tickets: Via Zipevent; check @sala.saneha on Instagram for the latest weekly schedule.

Inside Alliance Française Bangkok’s Wireless Road campus, this is one of the city's most reliably overlooked cinemas. Its repertory programme of French, European and Thai films is refreshed at the start of each month, with English subtitles throughout. September closes with And Their Children After Them on September 30, adapted from Nicolas Mathieu’s Prix Goncourt-winning novel. A free screening and climate-change talk follows on October 7 with Portraits of a Hotter Planet.

Where: Alliance Française Bangkok, 179 Wireless Road, Lumphini, Pathumwan
When: Weeknight screenings from 6pm, with selected family matinees at 2pm on Saturdays; next up is And Their Children After Them on September 30, followed by Portraits of a Hotter Planet on October 7.
Tickets: B120 (B60 for members) via afthailande.org; Portraits of a Hotter Planet on  October 7 is free.

This one's further afield than everything else on this list, and it's worth saying so upfront: the Thai Film Archive sits about an hour outside central Bangkok in Nakhon Pathom, but it's the only entry here running genuinely free daily screenings, drawn from the country's own film history. From Friday, the line-up includes a 55th-anniversary screening marking Krung Sriwilai's screen debut, followed midweek by a double bill pairing wartime drama Nak Phaendin with the well-loved romantic comedy Wai Onlawon. Less an evening drop-in than a deliberate day out for anyone serious about Thai cinema.

Where: Thai Film Archive, 94 Phutthamonthon Sai 5 Road, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom
When: 55 Pi Luk Yod: Hnang Ruang Raek Khong Krung Sriwilai, 13 September at 13.00 (Sala Cinema Theater); Nak Phaendin and Wai Onlawon double bill, 16 September at 13.00 and 15.30 (Red Elephant Theater)
Tickets: Free