Majesty
German Documentary about the Thai Royal family
At the end of November 2007 Broadview TV, a German production house, contacted us. They wanted to shoot a documentary about Thailand’s Royal Family for a prime time slot on Germany’s 2nd public channel, ZDF, and they needed our help fast. His Majesty the King of Thailand’s 80th birthday was approaching fast and they needed to capture the celebrations on this auspicious anniversary.
We were confident that if anyone could pull off filming permission to interview members of the Royal household, we could. Living Films production supervisor, Panyawadee Navarut Na Ayudhya is not only royal herself, she has been getting permissions like this since she started in 1977. However, time was so short and we also needed permission to shoot in the grand palace, which is almost never granted to film teams.
We took on the challenge, knowing that it would be a gamble, but we’re proud to say that in the end, we succeeded. As one of the first professional film teams in many years we were allowed to shoot in the Grand Palace, the very heart of the Thai monarchy. Important personalities of the highest social circles of Thailand opened their doors to us and honored us by recounting their experiences with his Majesty the King.
Guido Knopp, Head Editor of ZDF’s editorial department for contemporary history, joined us for a day of shooting in Ayutthya. Here in the ancient ruins of Siam’s old capital, we recorded his presentation for this program to the German audience.
