Thailand Submits ‘A Useful Ghost’ for Oscar for Best International Feature Film

Thailand earlier this week selected Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s debut feature A Useful Ghost (Phi Chidi Kha) as the country’s submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.

Starring Davika Hoorne, Witsarut Himmarat, Apasiri Nitibhon, Wanlop Rungkumjad, and Wisarut Homhuan, A Useful Ghost is a fantasy black comedy that centers on March, a grieving husband mourning his wife Nat, who succumbed to a respiratory illness caused by dust pollution. He is astonished when her spirit returns, inhabiting a household vacuum cleaner. Their unconventional reunion brings both whimsical charm and domestic disruption, as Nat must prove her value by helping resolve supernatural disturbances at March’s family factory.

The film premiered in the Critics’ Week section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, where it achieved history as the first Thai film in a decade to be selected and to win the Grand Prix AMI Paris. It was also selected to screen at the Morelia International Film Festival in Mexico as part of a Critics’ Week exchange program.

The announcement was made by the National Film Association of Thailand which confirmed that a total of 57 Thai films initially qualified for the 98th Academy Awards, with the selection committee eventually narrowing down to 15 shortlists. “Phi Dai Dai Kha” is a source of pride for Thai cinema, having made its global debut at the 78th Cannes International Film Festival in France. Its unique design, encompassing all aspects of quality, originality, and creative and profound content, has impressed critics and audiences internationally. It is considered another film that could well represent Thai cinema in 2025 at the world’s largest film awards ceremony, the Oscars.”