Cherd Songsri

Cherd Songsri
Cherd Songsri on the set of his 2001 film, Behind the Painting.
Born	(1931-09-20)September 20, 1931 Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand
Died	May 21, 2006(2006-05-21) (aged 74) Bangkok, Thailand
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, film producer
Years active	1960s-2000s
Awards	Three Continents Festival 1981, Golden Montgolfiere award, Plae Kao Thailand National Film Association Awards 2005, Lifetime Achievement Award

Cherd Songsri (Thai: เชิด ทรงศรี, September 20, 1931 – May 21, 2006) was a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A maker of period films that sought to introduce international audiences to his vision of Thai culture, his best-known work is the 1977 romance film Plae Kao (The Scar), which earned more box-office receipts than any Thai film before it. It won a prize at the 1981 Three Continents Festival in Nantes, France.

Cherd was born in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. He was trained as a maker of nang talung shadow puppets, which were fashioned out of animal skins. He was also a school teacher in Uttaradit Province and then became an editor of publications for the Express Transportation Organization of Thailand. From there, he became an editor of the Movie and TV Weekly magazine of Lak Muang Daily newspaper. He wrote articles and short stories, as well as scripts for radio and television programs.

Norah in 1966 was his first film. He handled all aspects of its production, from script writing, to securing financing and shooting the picture. It was a method of work that he retained throughout his entire career. Another film was the comedy, Poh-pla-lai, starring Sombat Metanee. Both were the most successful Thai films of the 16-mm era.

Cherd studied filmmaking in the late 1960s at the University of California Los Angeles, and trained under director Walter Doniger at Burbank Studios.