Apichatpong Weerasethakul

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Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2010)

Apichatpong Weerasethakul ( Thai : อภิ ชาติ พงศ์ วีระ เศรษฐ กุล , RTGS : Aphichatphong Wirasethakun, pronounced: [ ʔàpʰíʨʰâːtpʰoŋ wiːrásèttʰàkun ] Nickname : Joe * 16th July 1970 in Bangkok , Thailand ) is a Thai film director , screenwriter and film producer . For his feature film Uncle Boonmee Recalls His Past Lives , he became the first Thai filmmaker to receive the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2010 .

biography

Apichatpong Weerasethakul was born in Bangkok in 1970, but grew up in Khon Kaen in northeast Thailand . Both parents were doctors, and his father was also a member of parliament for the Democratic Party . Apichatpong first studied architecture at Khon Kaen University . During his studies, he gained a broader knowledge of film through video stores and shot some 16 mm short films on video . After graduating in 1994, he went to Chicago to study film at the Art Institute of Chicago . He completed his second degree in 1997.

In 1999 he founded the film production company Kick the Machine and used it to produce the 27-minute short film Malee and the Boy, which follows the everyday life of an eleven year old in the Thai capital, Bangkok. Apichatpong's first lengthy directorial work was the documentary Dokfa nai meuman , which was shown at film festivals around the world in 2000. His international breakthrough came with the feature film Blissfully Yours . It has been shown at numerous international film festivals, praised by the majority of critics and has received several awards, including the Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2002 and the Young Cinema Prize at the Singapore International Film Festival . The main character of the film is a Burmese who lives illegally in Thailand and suffers from a skin disease. It shows how the protagonist and his girlfriend go on an excursion into the wilderness.

After he co-directed the 2003 musical comedy Hua jai tor ra nong, which is atypical for the rest of his work , Tropical Malady followed in 2004 , in which the homosexual director himself addressed the love between two men. Praised as a “sensation in cinema” at the time , the film is about a soldier (played by Banlop Lomnoi ) and his lover ( Sakda Kaewbuadee ). When the latter disappears, the soldier believes, based on a legend, that the missing person has turned into a cruel animal and goes in search of him. At the film festival in Cannes was Tropical Malady with the Jury Prize awarded.

In 2005 he took part in a project of the Thai Ministry of Culture to collect thirteen short films in memory of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake . His nine-minute contribution was titled Ghost of Asia .

On August 30, 2006, his feature film Sang sattawat premiered in competition at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival . The film, inspired by the life of the director's parents, tells in two parts about a female and a male doctor in different hospitals. “Spectacular images descend on the viewer in contemplative calm before an insane community dance finale suddenly ends the meditation,” said the Spiegel about Sang sattawat .

In 2008 Weerasethakul was appointed to the competition jury at the 61st Cannes Film Festival .

In July 2008, France awarded him the Chevalier-des-Arts-et-Lettres medal.

In March 2009 the first book on Apichatpong Weerasethakul was published outside Thailand - edited by James Quandt. A year later, he received the Palme d'Or at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival for Uncle Boonmee Recalls His Past Life as the first Thai filmmaker .

At the dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel in 2012, his large figure of a ghost dressed in white, designed together with Chi Siri , was shown.

In 2012 he chaired the jury for the 65th Locarno International Film Festival .

In 2016, three of his films ( Sang sattawat , Tropical Malady , Uncle Boonmee remembers his previous lives ) were considered in the BBC's vote for the 100 most important films of the 21st century .

In 2019 Weerasethakul began shooting his film Memoria , which will be set for the first time in Colombia rather than Thailand . The film is starring Tilda Swinton , Jeanne Balibar , Daniel Gimenez Cacho and others. a. be international staff. One of the themes of the film will be the centuries-old construction project to build tunnels through the Andes. Memoria is also influenced by the fact that Weerasethakul began to suffer from Exploding Head Syndrome . He then held discussions with doctors and psychologists and dealt with the concepts of trauma , suffering and memory.

Filmography

Apichatpong Weerasethakul ( Viennale 2010)
  • 1993: Bullet (short film)
  • 1994: Kitchen and Bedroom (short film)
  • 1994: 0016643225059 (short film)
  • 1996: Like the Relentless Fury of the Pounding Waves (short film)
  • 1998: Thirdworld (short film)
  • 1999: Malee and the Boy (short film)
  • 2000: Boys at Noon (short film)
  • 2000: Dokfa nai meuman
  • 2001: Masumi Is a PC Operator (short film)
  • 2002: Blissfully Yours (Sud sanaeha)
  • 2003: Hua jai tor ra nong
  • 2004: Tropical Malady (Sud pralad)
  • 2005: Worldly Desires (short film)
  • 2005: Ghost of Asia (short film)
  • 2006: Syndromes and a Century (Sang sattawat)
  • 2009: A Letter to Uncle Boonmee
  • 2010: Uncle Boonmee remembers his previous lives (Lung Boonmee raluek chat)
  • 2010: Empire (short film)
  • 2011: M Hotel (short film, also part of the episode film Quattro Hong Kong 2 released in 2011 )
  • 2011: Ashes (short film)
  • 2015: Cemetery of Splendor

literature

  • Cristina Nord: Tiger eyes look at you. In: the daily newspaper, April 21, 2005.
  • Quandt, James (Ed.): Apichatpong Weerasethakul . FilmmuseumSynemaPublications Volume 12, Vienna: Österr. Filmmuseum / Synema - Ges. Für Film und Medien, 2009, ISBN 978-3-901644-31-3 .

Web links

Commons : Apichatpong Weerasethakul  - collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ David Jenkins: Who is Apichatpong Weerasethakul? In: TimeOut London , accessed October 14, 2015.
  2. ↑ Steve Rose: Apichatpong Weerasethakul - eclectic dreams. In: The Guardian (Online), May 24, 2010.
  3. ↑ Lawrence Chua: Artists in Conversation - Apichatpong Weerasethakul. In: Bomb Magazine , No. 114, Winter 2011.
  4. ^ Expedition into the jungle of fear, Die Zeit, October 27, 2005
  5. ^ Scarlett, save us !, Der Spiegel, Aug. 31, 2006
  6. ↑ Apichatpong Weerasethakul jury president at pardolive.ch (accessed on May 11, 2012).
  7. ↑ Jamie Lang, Jamie Lang: See the First Set Photos of Tilda Swinton, Apichatpong Weerasethakul 'Memoria' Shoot (EXCLUSIVE). In: Variety. August 27, 2019, accessed November 17, 2019 .
  8. ^ Hannah Ellis-Petersen: The man with the exploding head . In: The Guardian . October 24, 2018, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed November 17, 2019]).


Note on Thai names : This article addresses people by their first name.
personal data
SURNAME Apichatpong Weerasethakul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES อภิ ชาติ พงศ์ วีระ เศรษฐ กุล (Thai)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION thai film director
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Bangkok , Thailand