Yuthlert Sippapak’s controversial film Fatherland (ปิตุภูมิ) received rare public screenings late last night and early this morning at the 14 October ’73 Memorial in Bangkok. The film, a drama about the insurgency in southern Thailand, was commissioned by the military, though they withdrew their backing when it became clear that it wasn’t the propaganda vehicle they were expecting. Interviewed for the forthcoming book, Thai Cinema Uncensored, Yuthlert said that Prayut Chan-o-cha asked him a lot of “stupid questions” after watching the film. He also revealed that the military warned him it could be a dangerous film: “If you show this movie, somebody burns the theatre.”
In that interview, Yuthlert explained the reason for the controversy: “The one word that’s so sensitive is ‘เหตุการณ์สงบงบไม่มา’—‘if no war, no money’. Money is power. And the person who created the war is the military. I said that, and I don’t want to take that out. That’s the truth. And they don’t want the truth. I want the truth.” The film addresses this point directly, when a Muslim cleric says: “The violence that is happening is benefiting almost every side. There’s a lot of money. But what we can do is, we can make Thai people understand that what is happening here now is not a religion conflict.”
The film has been in limbo since its completion in 2012. At one stage, Yuthlert even considered building his own cinema in order to show it, though that plan never came to fruition. He has also retitled and repeatedly recut it, though no distributor has agreed to release it. It was screened last night, and shortly after midnight this morning, under the new title Rachida (ราชิดา). (Several early scenes highlight the soldiers’ lack of understanding of local Muslim culture, and the eponymous Rachida—a professor of Islamic studies—is brought in to teach the military about Islam.) Post-production is not yet finished: some shots have a “CG incomplete” caption, and there are no end credits.
Yesterday’s event was the latest of several covert screenings of banned or sensitive films, shown under the radar of the film censors. Ing K.’s Shakespeare Must Die (เชคสเปียร์ต้องตาย) was shown at Kasem Bundit University in 2012, and at a members-only screening at Cinema Oasis in 2018. Ing showed My Teacher Eats Biscuits (คนกราบหมา) at the Goethe-Institut in 1998, and at Chulalongkorn University in 2009. Thunska Pansittivorakul’s This Area Is Under Quarantine (บริเวณนี้อยู่ภายใต้การกักกัน) was screened at Makhampom Studio in 2008, he showed Reincarnate (จุติ) to an invited audience at House Rama in 2010, and Homogeneous, Empty Time (สุญกาล) was screened amid much secrecy at Democrazy Studio last year.
In that interview, Yuthlert explained the reason for the controversy: “The one word that’s so sensitive is ‘เหตุการณ์สงบงบไม่มา’—‘if no war, no money’. Money is power. And the person who created the war is the military. I said that, and I don’t want to take that out. That’s the truth. And they don’t want the truth. I want the truth.” The film addresses this point directly, when a Muslim cleric says: “The violence that is happening is benefiting almost every side. There’s a lot of money. But what we can do is, we can make Thai people understand that what is happening here now is not a religion conflict.”
The film has been in limbo since its completion in 2012. At one stage, Yuthlert even considered building his own cinema in order to show it, though that plan never came to fruition. He has also retitled and repeatedly recut it, though no distributor has agreed to release it. It was screened last night, and shortly after midnight this morning, under the new title Rachida (ราชิดา). (Several early scenes highlight the soldiers’ lack of understanding of local Muslim culture, and the eponymous Rachida—a professor of Islamic studies—is brought in to teach the military about Islam.) Post-production is not yet finished: some shots have a “CG incomplete” caption, and there are no end credits.
Yesterday’s event was the latest of several covert screenings of banned or sensitive films, shown under the radar of the film censors. Ing K.’s Shakespeare Must Die (เชคสเปียร์ต้องตาย) was shown at Kasem Bundit University in 2012, and at a members-only screening at Cinema Oasis in 2018. Ing showed My Teacher Eats Biscuits (คนกราบหมา) at the Goethe-Institut in 1998, and at Chulalongkorn University in 2009. Thunska Pansittivorakul’s This Area Is Under Quarantine (บริเวณนี้อยู่ภายใต้การกักกัน) was screened at Makhampom Studio in 2008, he showed Reincarnate (จุติ) to an invited audience at House Rama in 2010, and Homogeneous, Empty Time (สุญกาล) was screened amid much secrecy at Democrazy Studio last year.
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