DMZ International Documentary Film Festival

Two feature-length Thai documentaries—Uruphong Raksasad’s documentary Songs of Angry People and Thunska Pansittivorakul’s Damnatio Memoriae (ไม่พึงปรารถนา)—will have their world premieres at the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival in South Korea next month. The festival runs from 14th to 21st September, with screenings taking place near the demilitarised zone on the border with North Korea.

Songs of Angry People, premiering on 15th September, is a record of the protest movement that began in 2020, when students campaigned for reform of the monarchy and a return to democracy. Songs of Angry People is only the second feature-length documentary covering the protests, after Supong Jitmuang’s Mob 2020–2021. Uruphong’s previous films include Agrarian Utopia (สวรรค์บ้านนา) and Worship (บูชา).

Damnatio Memoriae, a collage film about Asian state propaganda in the Cold War era, will premiere on 17th September. Thunska’s previous films include Danse Macabre (มรณสติ), Avalon (แดนศักดิ์สิทธิ์), Santikhiri Sonata (สันติคีรี โซนาตา), Homogeneous, Empty Time (สุญกาล), Supernatural (เหนือธรรมชาติ), The Terrorists (ผู้ก่อการร้าย), Reincarnate (จุติ), and This Area is Under Quarantine (บริเวณนี้อยู่ภายใต้การกักกัน).