11th Thai Short Film and Video Festival

The 11th Thai Short Film and Video Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์สั้นครั้งที่ 11) opened on 17th August with The Anthem by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and closed today. Screenings took place at the EGV Grand Discovery cinema in Bangkok. The highlight was yesterday’s Spoken Silence, a themed evening of films about the repressive social and cultural environment following last year’s coup, followed by a Q&A with the directors. There were twelve films in the Spoken Silence programme:

• Bangkok Tanks (a transcript of a superficial Windows Live chat, accompanied by off-air coup footage from CNN; directed by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit)
• Silence in D Minor (filmed through a green tarpaulin which acted as a filter, ending with a CNS announcement inviting youth participation; directed by Chalida Uabumrungjit)
• The Duck Empire Strike Back [sic] (Thaksin’s ousting through the metaphor of a rubber duck; directed by Nutthorn Kangwanklai)
• Letter from the Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ; shots of a suicide note from a taxi driver who crashed his cab into a tank; directed by Prap Boonpan)
• The Love Culprit (a story told in voice-over followed by a melodramatic karaoke video featuring tribal dancers; directed by Sanchai Chotirosseranee)
• 3-0 (intercutting between a woman trying to cross the road, another woman exercising, and a boy's physiotherapy, and ending with a peaceful anti-coup demonstration; directed by Anocha Suwichakornpong)
• Fake World (actors filming TV commercials, featuring the over-acting and ridiculous sound effects common to Thai TV; directed by Tanwarin Sukhapisit)
• งานเฝ้าระวังความฝันของบุคคลที่น่าเชื่อว่าฝักใฝ่การทำลายศีลธรรมอันดีของประชาชน (‘the dream of a person believed to be intent on destroying the morality of the people’, static shots continually going in and out of focus; directed by Manutsak Dokmai)
• When The Movie Listens (a man sitting and looking into the camera, as if waiting for someone to speak; directed by Tulapop Saenjaroen)
• Man with a Video Camera (a montage of scenes from daily life, including a pro-Thaksin rally, inspired by Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera; directed by Jakrawal Nilthamrong)
• หนีนรกโพธิ์พระยา 2526 (‘fleeing hell in Pho Phraya’, a young girl answering unheard questions, and boys playing with toy guns; directed by Paisit Punpruksachart)
• Middle-Earth (a male couple sleeping next to each other, naked; directed by Thunska Pansittivorakul)