Thailand will have a general election on 8th February, and a referendum will be held on the same day, asking whether the constitution should be entirely rewritten. Several screenings of Aekaphong Saransate and Thanakrit Duangmaneeporn’s documentary Breaking the Cycle (อำนาจ ศรัทธา อนาคต) have been organised in anticipation of the upcoming votes.
The film will be shown tomorrow at the Loftster gallery and café in Nai Mueang, Korat, at an event called The History on the Rocks. The screening will be followed by a discussion of Thai politics, ประวัติศาสตร์ไทยในแก้วเบียร์ (‘Thai history in a beer glass’).
The film will be shown tomorrow at the Loftster gallery and café in Nai Mueang, Korat, at an event called The History on the Rocks. The screening will be followed by a discussion of Thai politics, ประวัติศาสตร์ไทยในแก้วเบียร์ (‘Thai history in a beer glass’).
Breaking the Cycle will also be shown on 1st February, at the House of Commons bookshop and café in Bangkok. After the screening, there will be a discussion with Komtouch Napattaloong, one of the film’s producers, on the history of the progressive ‘orange movement’.
The HOC event is the first in a planned Movie Talk series. Komtouch is also the director of No Exorcism Film, and he curated Infinges, a programme of short films, in 2024.
The HOC event is the first in a planned Movie Talk series. Komtouch is also the director of No Exorcism Film, and he curated Infinges, a programme of short films, in 2024.
There was also another screening scheduled for tomorrow, at Anybodyhome, a new venue in Nong Khai. But that event — Movie Time, organised by Nongkhai Mai Pop — has since been cancelled. There are also plans for a screening of Breaking the Cycle in Phayao in the near future.
Breaking the Cycle is a fly-on-the-wall account of the rise and fall of the Future Forward party, which was dissolved by the Constitutional Court in 2020. (Future Forward was founded as a progressive alternative to military dictatorship. The party came third in the 2019 election, after a wave of support for its charismatic leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, though he was disqualified as an MP by the Constitutional Court.)
The film begins in 2014 with Thanathorn’s determination to end the vicious cycle of military coups that has characterised Thailand’s modern political history. This mission gives the film its title, and Future Forward co-founder Piyabutr Saengkanokkul asks: “Why is Thailand stuck in this cycle of coups?” The documentary benefits from its extensive access to every senior figure within Future Forward. The directors were even able to film Thanathorn as he reacted to the guilty verdicts being delivered by the Constitutional Court.
The documentary ends with the caption “THE CYCLE CONTINUES”, which is sadly accurate: Future Forward’s successor, Move Forward, was dissolved by the Constitutional Court in 2025 despite winning the 2023 election. But in the film, Thanathorn half-jokingly predicts: “In three elections we’ll be the government”, and the movement’s third incarnation, the People’s Party, is currently leading the opinion polls in the run-up to next month’s election.
Breaking the Cycle went on general release in 2024. It was later shown at the Thai Film Archive, as part of the Lost and Longing (แด่วันคืนที่สูญหาย) season. It was also screened at A.E.Y. Space in Songkla, and at the Bangsaen Film Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์บางแสน) at Burapha University. It was part of the Hits Me Movies... One More Time programme at House Samyan in Bangkok, and last year it was screened at Thammasat University and Chulalongkorn University. Its most recent screenings were in Bangkok and Chiang Rai.
The film begins in 2014 with Thanathorn’s determination to end the vicious cycle of military coups that has characterised Thailand’s modern political history. This mission gives the film its title, and Future Forward co-founder Piyabutr Saengkanokkul asks: “Why is Thailand stuck in this cycle of coups?” The documentary benefits from its extensive access to every senior figure within Future Forward. The directors were even able to film Thanathorn as he reacted to the guilty verdicts being delivered by the Constitutional Court.
The documentary ends with the caption “THE CYCLE CONTINUES”, which is sadly accurate: Future Forward’s successor, Move Forward, was dissolved by the Constitutional Court in 2025 despite winning the 2023 election. But in the film, Thanathorn half-jokingly predicts: “In three elections we’ll be the government”, and the movement’s third incarnation, the People’s Party, is currently leading the opinion polls in the run-up to next month’s election.
Breaking the Cycle went on general release in 2024. It was later shown at the Thai Film Archive, as part of the Lost and Longing (แด่วันคืนที่สูญหาย) season. It was also screened at A.E.Y. Space in Songkla, and at the Bangsaen Film Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์บางแสน) at Burapha University. It was part of the Hits Me Movies... One More Time programme at House Samyan in Bangkok, and last year it was screened at Thammasat University and Chulalongkorn University. Its most recent screenings were in Bangkok and Chiang Rai.