The 28th Thai Short Film and Video Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์สั้น ครั้งที่ 28) will take place from 14th to 22nd December at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya. As a prelude, all of the films submitted will be screened in alphabetical order in this year’s online Short Film Marathon (หนังสั้นมาราธอน), between 29th October and 4th December.
There were more than 600 submissions this year. A few of the highlights include Vichart Somkaew’s documentary 112 News from Heaven on 29th October (previously screened at Phatthalung Micro Cinema 0.5, the Doc Club Festival, and Vichart Movie Collection), Patipat Oakkharhaphunrat’s Black Hole on 31st October (previously shown at Tech Tales Youth), Koraphat Cheeradit’s Believe a Lust (Croire à un désir) and Pattanapong Khongsak’s Bad Taste (โอรส) also on 31st October, Warat Bureephakdee’s Crazy Soft Power Love on 1st November (previously screened at this year’s Wildtype), Teeraphan Ngowjeenanan’s Comedy Against Dictatorship also on 1st November, Vichart’s The Letter from Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ) on 5th November, Koraphat’s Landscape of Us on Fire also on 5th November, Komtouch Napattaloong’s No Exorcism Film on 7th November (also previously screened at Wildtype), Vichart’s The Poem of the River (บทกวีแห่งสายน้ำ) on 8th November, Jarut Wisawong’s Twas Partly Love, and Partly Fear (another Wildtype film) on 12th November, and Chaiyapol Kokiartcajon’s Dust Beneath the Sun (ผู้หญิงที่ยังอยู่) on 22nd November.
There were more than 600 submissions this year. A few of the highlights include Vichart Somkaew’s documentary 112 News from Heaven on 29th October (previously screened at Phatthalung Micro Cinema 0.5, the Doc Club Festival, and Vichart Movie Collection), Patipat Oakkharhaphunrat’s Black Hole on 31st October (previously shown at Tech Tales Youth), Koraphat Cheeradit’s Believe a Lust (Croire à un désir) and Pattanapong Khongsak’s Bad Taste (โอรส) also on 31st October, Warat Bureephakdee’s Crazy Soft Power Love on 1st November (previously screened at this year’s Wildtype), Teeraphan Ngowjeenanan’s Comedy Against Dictatorship also on 1st November, Vichart’s The Letter from Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ) on 5th November, Koraphat’s Landscape of Us on Fire also on 5th November, Komtouch Napattaloong’s No Exorcism Film on 7th November (also previously screened at Wildtype), Vichart’s The Poem of the River (บทกวีแห่งสายน้ำ) on 8th November, Jarut Wisawong’s Twas Partly Love, and Partly Fear (another Wildtype film) on 12th November, and Chaiyapol Kokiartcajon’s Dust Beneath the Sun (ผู้หญิงที่ยังอยู่) on 22nd November.
Believe a Lust
Believe a Lust is only a few minutes long, though it’s a powerful and provocative film, as it shows a novice monk masturbating in a toilet cubicle. Like Koraphat’s ...Tomorrow I Fuck with Yesterday Now!, it includes some explicit subliminal imagery. Like Landscape of Us on Fire, is has beautiful black-and-white cinematography.
Landscape of Us on Fire
Landscape of Us on Fire also challenges the taboo against depicting the sexual desires of monks. In the film, a novice monk hires a prostitute, and the poster image — of the monk’s hand on the young prostitute’s back — recalls a shot in Kanittha Kwunyoo’s previously banned film Karma (อาปัติ).
The nearest equivalent to Believe a Lust and Landscape of Us on Fire is probably Watcharapol Paksri’s short film All Done in the Opposite of Afternoon [sic] (วัฏสงสาร), which was shown at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya on 8th September 2018. (Thai Cinema Uncensored discusses the representation of monks in Thai films in much more detail.)
The nearest equivalent to Believe a Lust and Landscape of Us on Fire is probably Watcharapol Paksri’s short film All Done in the Opposite of Afternoon [sic] (วัฏสงสาร), which was shown at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya on 8th September 2018. (Thai Cinema Uncensored discusses the representation of monks in Thai films in much more detail.)
Comedy Against Dictatorship
Comedy Against Dictatorship features an interview with comedian Setthawut Chanpensuk, who was inspired by Rap Against Dictatorship to start a satirical stand-up comedy routine. (The director, known as Teeraphanny, has previously collaborated with Rap Against Dictatorship.) In one of his live sets, Setthawut takes a swig of an energy drink: “Let me have a sip of Red Bull. Ahhh, the taste of inequality.”
Bad Taste
Bad Taste, tinted blue and set to the song Blue by Eiffel 65, features a judge who eats blue food from a dogfood bowl on the floor. The colour blue has a symbolic meaning in Thai politics, and the film implies the judge’s dog-like obedience.
Dust Beneath the Sun
The drama Dust Beneath the Sun was inspired by the case of Ampon Tangnoppakul, who died in jail while serving a twenty-year sentence for lèse-majesté, and the film dramatises the moment when he is arrested and his home is searched by the police. Ampon was convicted on the basis of SMS messages allegedly sent from his cellphone, though he always denied sending them, and the film portrays him as a royalist, his house decorated with calendars and portraits of Rama IX. (Two songs composed by Rama IX are featured on the soundtrack.)