The Short Films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul

The Short Films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul

APRIL 15-23, 2008
 

"World cinema’s premier maker of mysterious objects, Apichatpong Weerasethakul is on a one-man mission to change the way we watch movies. Rich and strange, postmodern and prehistoric, his films foster an experience of serene bewilderment and –for the willing viewer – euphoric surrender. They are suffused with a sense of wide-open possibility that sometimes explodes into epiphany."–Dennis Lim, THE VILLAGE VOICE

Apichatpong Weerasethakul (SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY, TROPICAL MALADY) is a key figure in modern Thai film and a highly original moving-image artist. He studied architecture at Khon Kaen University before completing a Master of Fine Arts in filmmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Influenced by American experimental film, Weerasethakul is one of a small group of independent filmmakers working outside the Thai studio system. His video installations, shorts and feature films explore the genres of documentary and fiction in uniquely Thai contexts. Thai television, radio and comics provide story elements that may be enacted or embroidered by the characters that drive Weerasethakul’s films. These two programs comprise rarely seen short works made by the acclaimed director over the past 14 years.



Special thanks to Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Jed Rapfogel (Anthology Film Archives), Lee Chatametikool, Mark McElhatten and Isabelle Park (Jeonju International Film Festival).

 

The Short Films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Program 2

Apr 22 - Apr 23, 2008

(Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 1994-2007, various formats, 81min.)

THE ANTHEM (2006, 35mm, 5 min)

Apichatpong adapts the tradition in Thailand of playing a Royal Anthem before all films, proposing his own “Cinema Anthem” that praises and blesses each film screening.
 

0116643225059 (1994, BETA-SP, 5 min)

Alternating images of a motherĖ™s photo and an apartment interior are linked by a conversation, connecting memory and everyday-life space.
 

GHOST OF ASIA (2005, BETA-SP, 9 min)

A collaboration between Apichatpong and Christelle Lheureux, this film uses the recent Tsunami in Asia as a starting point to celebrate the spirits of humans lost at sea.
 

MY MOTHER’S GARDEN (2007, BETA-SP, 7 min)

An impression of a jewelry collection by Victoire de Castellane that was inspired by various types of dangerous flowers and carnivorous plants.
 

WORLDLY DESIRES (2005, BETA-SP, 40 min)

Both a fragmented study of the filmmaking process and a landscape film drawn from Apichatpong’s memories of shooting his acclaimed feature film Tropical Malady.
 

LUMINOUS PEOPLE (2006, 35mm, 15 min)

Commemorating the presence of the dead and memories of the living, this film shows a group traveling by boat along the Mekong River and incorporates conversations and stories.

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The Short Films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Program 1

Apr 15 - Apr 16, 2008

(Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 1995-2006, various formats, 96 min)

THE ANTHEM (2006, 35mm, 5 min)

Apichatpong adapts the tradition in Thailand of playing a Royal Anthem before all films, proposing his own “Cinema Anthem” that praises and blesses each film screening.
 

WINDOWS (1999, BETA-SP, 17 min)

The first film Apichatpong shot on video, this improvisation uses slight physical movement to capture natural phenomena through the camera eye’s mechanism.
 

MALEE AND THE BOY (1999, BETA-SP, 27 min)

Apichatpong collaborated with a 10-year-old boy to create this impression of everyday life in Bangkok which integrates text from a Thai comic book.
 

LIKE THE RELENTLESS FURY OF THE POUNDING WAVES
(1995, BETA-SP, 30 min)

This impressionistic short film weaves together various location shots, photographs, and the sound of a radio play to depict one hot day in the director’s hometown of Khon Kaen.
 

THIRDWORLD (1997, BETA-SP, 17 min)

Drawing on the raw quality of 16mm black-and-white film, Apichatpong captures the landscapes and people of the southern Thai island Panya.

 

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