A new documentary by Thai filmmaker Thunska Pansittivorakul, This Area Is Under Quarantine (บริเวณนี้อยู่ภายใต้การกักกัน), was screened at Makhampom Studio, Bangkok, last night. (All of his previous films were shown at a retrospective in April.) Before the premiere of this new feature-length documentary, there were screenings of his recent short films Action! (which premiered at the 5th Bangkok Experimental Film Festival, and is currently showing as part of the 4th Project 6) and Middle-Earth (มัชฌิมโลก, which premiered at the 11th Thai Short Film and Video Festival), and his music video Blinded Spot. Most of the photographs from Thunska’s recent Life Show exhibition were also displayed, though the more explicit ones were missing.
Thunska has always made highly provocative films, and This Area Is Under Quarantine is no exception. Its first half resembles his short films Life Show (เปลือยชีวิต) and Chemistry (ปฏิกิริยา), with two gay men being interviewed about their past relationships. They later have sex with each other, filmed in close-up with a constantly moving camera, recalling Thunska’s short film Sigh (เมืองร้าง).
One of the men mentions that he is Muslim, which unexpectedly veers the discussion towards the notorious incident at Tak Bai in 2004 when seventy-eight Muslim men suffocated while held captive by the Thai army. Video footage of the Tak Bai incident is included, and Thaksin Shinawatra, who was Thailand’s prime minister at the time, is directly criticised in the film (albeit four years after the event).
Thunska has always made highly provocative films, and This Area Is Under Quarantine is no exception. Its first half resembles his short films Life Show (เปลือยชีวิต) and Chemistry (ปฏิกิริยา), with two gay men being interviewed about their past relationships. They later have sex with each other, filmed in close-up with a constantly moving camera, recalling Thunska’s short film Sigh (เมืองร้าง).
One of the men mentions that he is Muslim, which unexpectedly veers the discussion towards the notorious incident at Tak Bai in 2004 when seventy-eight Muslim men suffocated while held captive by the Thai army. Video footage of the Tak Bai incident is included, and Thaksin Shinawatra, who was Thailand’s prime minister at the time, is directly criticised in the film (albeit four years after the event).
The Tak Bai scenes are taken from a VCD issued by the journal Same Sky (ฟ้าเดียวกัน) in defiance of a ban imposed by the Thaksin government. Since then, the footage has become more widely available: earlier this year, a Tak Bai documentary — นี้คือ...ความจริงที่ตากใบ (‘this is... the truth about Tak Bai’) — was released on VCD alongside an older documentary about the ‘Black May’ protests. (Strangely, the VCD cover features an unrelated photograph from 14th October 1973.)
There were a few technical glitches at last night’s sold-out screening. The film will be shown again at the same venue on 1st September.
There were a few technical glitches at last night’s sold-out screening. The film will be shown again at the same venue on 1st September.
