In 1958, the International Performing Art Expo in Belgium requested that the Thai government send a troupe of performers to join the event. Instead, the Fine Art Department had a better idea: They asked Thai filmmaker R.D. Pestonji to make two films, 30-minute each, to promote Thailand and Thai culture, especially the performing art, and to present the &ldquo;official&rdquo; image of Thailand to the world. The two films, Diamond Finger and Thailand, represented the earliest visual evidence of how the Thai authorities harnessed the cinematic power &ndash; with its ability to create both illusion and reality &ndash; to shape the image of Thailand in the eyes of Western audiences. In a way they can be considered the prototype of &ldquo;soft power&rdquo; films. Diamond Finger is an exquisite dance film featuring an episode from the Ramayana epic; while Thailand is a straightforward tourism promotion film shot around Bangkok and Nakhon Pathom. Both were filmed in color 35mm and narrated in English by M.R. Kukrit Pramoj. Thai Film Archive deputy director Kong Rithdee and filmmaker Smithi Skunnawat will lead an informal post-film discussion. Bar and restaurant are open and pizzas from new pizza oven are available.