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From Cannes to Thailand’s Oscar race, director Sompot Chidgasornpongse talks 9 Temples to Heaven, faith, family and the journey home.
After travelling the world, 9 Temples to Heaven (2026) is finally coming home.
After premiering at Cannes and travelling through the international festival circuit, 9 Temples to Heaven has now returned to Thailand with something bigger than a festival run: a place in the country’s Oscar race.
9 Temples to Heaven has been named Thailand’s Oscar entry for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards. The film made its world premiere at the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
Written and directed by Sompot “Boat” Chidgasornpongse, 9 Temples to Heaven is his first narrative feature. It has been selected by the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations as Thailand’s official submission for Best International Feature Film.
But what exactly is 9 Temples to Heaven about? For audiences in Thailand, the question is a natural one – the film has yet to be released in its home country. Boat talks about 9 Temples to Heaven, from its Cannes premiere to being selected as Thailand’s entry for the 99th Academy Awards.
The Real-Life Roots of 9 Temples to Heaven
A family of nine takes their grandmother on a one-day pilgrimage to nine temples, hoping that the merit they make along the way might prolong her life. But as the day unfolds, the journey takes an unexpected turn. The story grew out of Sompot’s own experiences with his family.
Q: What inspired you to turn your own family’s temple trips into 9 Temples to Heaven?
Boat:
“I feel like a nine-temple merit-making trip is one of the ultimate manifestations of devotion. It’s almost like a mini pilgrimage that a Thai Buddhist can undertake.”
In 9 Temples to Heaven, Boat explores the beliefs and rituals surrounding merit-making through a family racing from temple to temple, hoping to change the fate of their grandmother, who has been told she has little time left. The premise is deeply rooted in Thai Buddhist culture, yet the film has found an audience far beyond Thailand.
“The trip brings together so many things – family, faith, love, superstition, humour and conflict. It’s a day full of such a unique combination of experiences that it already feels like a movie in itself, moving through different spaces and through the course of a single day.”
At the Heart of the Story
At the heart of 9 Temples to Heaven is a familiar human impulse: when faced with uncertainty, we look for something – or someone – to hold on to. The film approaches that impulse through Thai Buddhist beliefs around merit-making, but the feeling behind it is more universal.
When someone we love is running out of time, faith can offer hope, even when we know there may be no way to change what is coming. 9 Temples to Heaven offers a view of this tension through a family caught between belief and doubt, tradition and reality. Their journey is not simply about making merit, but about what people are willing to do when faced with the possibility of losing someone they love.
Q: The film moves through nine temples in one day. What did you want the journey to say about family, faith and Thai culture?
Boat:
“Ultimately, the film is about a family trying their best to help someone they love. Buddhism teaches us to let go and accept impermanence, yet the family is accumulating merit in the hope of changing fate. I find that contradiction within myself and many others. We can believe and doubt at the same time, and perhaps much of contemporary Thai life exists somewhere between those two things.”
In that sense, the film looks at faith as something people turn to when they are afraid, uncertain or searching for a way forward.
From Cannes to the Oscars
9 Temples to Heaven has taken an international festival route before reaching its home audience. Its journey began with its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, where it became the first Thai film in 19 years to screen in the section, following Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s Ploy in 2007. As Sompot’s first feature-length film, it was also in contention for the Caméra d’Or.
The film went on to compete and screen at numerous international festivals, picking up awards along the way. At the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival, Sompot won Best Director while lead actor Sompop Songkampol won Best Actor in the Golden Goblet Awards’ Asian New Talent competition. In New Zealand, the film later received a Fresh Competition Award at the New Zealand International Film Festival.
Now, after travelling from Cannes through the international festival circuit, 9 Temples to Heaven is finally making its way to audiences at home.
Q: What does it mean to see a deeply personal Thai story reach Cannes and now represent Thailand in the Oscars race?
Boat:
“It’s a great honor in both cases. I was simply trying my best to make a film that felt honest to my own experiences, so going to Cannes and other international festivals has been wonderful. It has shown me that something that feels very specific and personal to you can also be universal and resonate with people from completely different parts of the world.”
In 2026, the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations appointed a committee to select a Thai film for consideration in the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. The committee, made up of figures from across the film industry, considered 51 eligible Thai films before narrowing the selection to eight finalists.
After several rounds of discussion, the committee selected 9 Temples to Heaven, citing its distinctiveness, quality and creative depth, as well as its strong reception from critics and audiences internationally.
“I’m also very appreciative that the film has been chosen to represent Thailand at the Oscars. It’s heartwarming to see the film being embraced internationally, but perhaps even more meaningful to see it embraced by your own home country.”
9 Temples to Heaven finally arrives in Thailand this month. The film opens the Bangkok International Film Festival on September 13 before its nationwide cinema release on September 17, bringing it back to the country that inspired its story just as its journey to the Oscars begins.
