Supamok Silarak’s film Red Poetry (ความกวีสีแดง) was shown in Chiang Mai this evening, at a rooftop screening organised by Untitled for Film. The feature-length documentary profiles the activities of performance artist Vitthaya Klangnil, who formed the group Artn’t with fellow student Yotsunthon Ruttapradit. A shorter version — Red Poetry: Verse 1 (เราไป ไหน ได้) — was shown last year at Wildtype 2022.
The documentary, filmed in 2021, shows the level of endurance and commitment Vitthaya invests in his protest art. A durational performance — sitting in front of Chiang Mai’s Tha Pae Gate for nine full days — led to his collapse from exhaustion. In another action, he climbed onto Chiang Mai University’s main entrance, repeatedly slapped himself in the face, and jumped into a pond below. When he reported to the police to answer charges of sedition, he vomited blue paint outside the police station. The film ends with Vitthaya carving “112” into his chest, in protest at the lèse-majesté (article 112) charges he faced after he exhibited a modified version of the Thai flag in 2021.
The documentary, filmed in 2021, shows the level of endurance and commitment Vitthaya invests in his protest art. A durational performance — sitting in front of Chiang Mai’s Tha Pae Gate for nine full days — led to his collapse from exhaustion. In another action, he climbed onto Chiang Mai University’s main entrance, repeatedly slapped himself in the face, and jumped into a pond below. When he reported to the police to answer charges of sedition, he vomited blue paint outside the police station. The film ends with Vitthaya carving “112” into his chest, in protest at the lèse-majesté (article 112) charges he faced after he exhibited a modified version of the Thai flag in 2021.
Red Poetry was at Chiang Mai University’s Department of Media Arts and Design, followed by a post-screening discussion with the director. This was its third under-the-radar screening in Chiang Mai, the city in which it was filmed: it was previously shown at Chiang Mai University Art Center and at Suan Anya.
There are currently no plans to show it in Bangkok, where it might attract unwanted attention. It would almost certainly be cut or banned if submitted to the censors, not least because in one sequence, during the Tha Pae Gate performance, Vitthaya and a royalist passerby debate the hypothetical scenario of Thailand as a republic.
There are currently no plans to show it in Bangkok, where it might attract unwanted attention. It would almost certainly be cut or banned if submitted to the censors, not least because in one sequence, during the Tha Pae Gate performance, Vitthaya and a royalist passerby debate the hypothetical scenario of Thailand as a republic.
