Wildtype, the annual season of short films programmed by Chayanin Tiangpitayagorn, Wiwat Lertwiwatwongsa, and Sasawat Boonsri, returns this month for its sixteenth year. After being held largely online in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event has been expanding during the past few years, with screenings around the country in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
This year is no exception, and there will be screenings at Buffalo Bridge Gallery in Bangkok, Bangkok University’s School of Digital Media and Cinematic Arts, AEY Space in Songkhla, Chiang Mai University’s Department of Media Arts and Design (organised by Untitled for Film), Don’t Be Selfish in Phayao, Us coffee shop in Phatthalung, Lorem Ipsum in Hat Yai, Noir Row Art Space in Udon Thani, Alien Artspace in Khon Kaen (organised by Berng Nang Club), and Vongchavalitkul University’s Faculty of Communication Arts in Korat. Wildtype 2025 begins on 20th September.
This year is no exception, and there will be screenings at Buffalo Bridge Gallery in Bangkok, Bangkok University’s School of Digital Media and Cinematic Arts, AEY Space in Songkhla, Chiang Mai University’s Department of Media Arts and Design (organised by Untitled for Film), Don’t Be Selfish in Phayao, Us coffee shop in Phatthalung, Lorem Ipsum in Hat Yai, Noir Row Art Space in Udon Thani, Alien Artspace in Khon Kaen (organised by Berng Nang Club), and Vongchavalitkul University’s Faculty of Communication Arts in Korat. Wildtype 2025 begins on 20th September.
The Returning
One of this year’s highlights is The Returning (วนเวียน), a short film by Supong Jitmuang documenting the growing attendance at events commemorating the 6th October 1976 Thammasat University massacre since 2020. (Supong also directed the documentary Mob 2020–2021.)
Oblivion
The short film Oblivion (เลือน), a collage of found footage woven into a magical realist allegory, is also included. Directed under the pseudonym Burindh the Golden Goby, it’s another of the seventy or more films that refer to the 1976 massacre.
A Fire 9 Kilometers Away
Buariyate Eamkamol’s short film A Fire 9 Kilometers Away is another highlight. The film is a blend of documentary and fiction, and features a poem dedicated to Samaphan Srithep, one of the youngest victims of the crackdown on protesters in Bangkok in 2010. Projected as a diptych, the film makes ironic juxtapositions, showing military snipers on 10th April 2010 alongside footage of revellers firing water pistols during the April Songkran festival.
The Returning, Oblivion, and A Fire 9 Kilometers Away will all be shown as part of a programme titled The Party and the Guest. They will be screened at Buffalo Bridge and Don’t Be Selfish on 21st September, at CMU on 23rd September, at Vongchavalitkul on 1st October, at Berng Nang on 5th October, and at BUDC on 29th October.
The Returning, Oblivion, and A Fire 9 Kilometers Away will all be shown as part of a programme titled The Party and the Guest. They will be screened at Buffalo Bridge and Don’t Be Selfish on 21st September, at CMU on 23rd September, at Vongchavalitkul on 1st October, at Berng Nang on 5th October, and at BUDC on 29th October.
