Sunday, March 22, 2009

FAVORITE THAI SHORT FILMS

D. FAVORITE THAI SHORT FILMS

1.DANGER (DIRECTOR’S CUT) (2008, Chulayarnnon Siriphol)

2.HASAN (2008, Attapon Pamakho)

3.REPEATING DRAMATIC (2008, Arpapun Plungsirisoontorn)

4.CEREBRUM (2008, Alwa Ritsila + Komvish Zally)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D4c-x-AXG4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT0pJtVtXUA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQciTneaWO8

5.A CENTURY OF LOVE (2007, Chalermrat Kaweewattana)

6.HOPE (2008, Siwadol Ratee)

7.TIME AND CONTINUATION (2004, Sudsiri Pui-ock)

8.MOFO LIFE SIZEDOLL (2007, Alwa Ritsila + Komvish Zally)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0NtqBkEkW8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KT7eyoFW48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrJTle91exk

9.GOLDEN MOUNTAIN (2008, Wattanapume Laisuwanchai)

10.CULTURE AND NATURE (2008, Prap Boonpan)

11.NIGHT TIME (2007, Tepparit Nuntasakun)

12.MANET’S LUNCHEON ON THE GRASS AND THAI VILLAGERS (2008, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook)

13.BOONTHING (1991, Hamer Salwala + Saipin Kulkanokwan + Orawan Ovathasarn)

14.THE ETERNAL LIGHT (2008, Tulapop Saenjaroen)

15.GLIN SAI LOM (กลิ่นสายลม) (2007, Chaiwat Wiansantia)
The title of this film means “FRAGRANCE OF THE WIND”.

16.MIDNIGHT RAINBOW (2008, Patha Thongpan)

17.TWO STORIES ABOUT DHARMA (2008, Natchanon Jitweerapat + Isara Konlum)

18.NONGHARN (2007, Panus Boonnun)

19.CENSORSHIT! FATHER AND SON (2008, Professional Dry Cleaner)

20.I’M FINE SABUYDEE KA (2008, Tanwarin Sukkhapisit)

21.EMERALD (2007, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

22.THE THING (2008, Fari Tesprateep)

23.THIS CONSTRUCT CAN SERVE NO PURPOSE ANYMORE (2008, Sathit Sattarasart)

24.STRAWBERRY (2008, Thaweesak Srithongdee + Boonchai Apintanaphong)

25.NEW GENERATION (เด็กโจ๋) (2008, Pakwan Suksomthin)

Saturday, February 28, 2009

New project "S Size in City"





Art and Community “S-size in city”
Root and Momentousness
If art could be the reflection of urban motion, we would not ignore to social problems that really occur in our city “Kea Nangloung” a small community in area of Kea Nangloung temple, located in Bangkok. They are suffering from drugs, sexual, violation, parent, divorce, crime, etc
These problems have been circularly from one to another generation and existed in other communities in Bangkok.
Due to the declined environment, their parents are unqualified and premature pregnant .the children are not taken good care and not protected from harsh conditions. So they do not behave properly.
Purpose
From the problem above, the children are formed to live on their lives at risk. The undeveloped population might become criminals. The makers expect this activity could stimulate these children to realize self-esteem and discrimination. At least, it is another point to show that they can improve and make anything better. Meanwhile, they join the activity then show their artwork, the make expect their parents would perceive the capability and turn to take better care of them. So the maker which are composed of art student, volunteers, and HIV infested young, aim to apply the art process in activity as follows.
Activity from 
1. As the HIV infested young have leaned how to perform simple stage show and role-play, it is what they dream to and it do not come true in reality.The show is in front of temple yard to entertain people and record details for exhibition. 
2. The art students from the mocking TV shows about word puzzle by let parent gesture and children guess what it is? This builds the warmth between them. It shoes the reality about learning process that children would imitate from parents this game shows in every houses in community and record for exhibition. (by Kaowtoo)
3.The volunteers make VDO work by mocking the political situation.The parents play the politician role and state many crises such as global warming, economic crisis. It takes place in amall path through community and playground to compaer between big troubles we pay attention and small ones we ignore.(by Viriyah)

4. The art students let every families learn the process and how to make animation
such as photo taking, flipbook drawing or paper cutting in different figures
then join cartoon or short film for their families.
The simple technique are applied to this process, the different form depends on each imagination's family.
This work are shown circularly in each family or set for free movies in wide areas.(by Apple)

Preeyachanok (Kaowtoo) Hope your join with us and interest this project.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

The exhibition THE THIRTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF D.K. FILMHOUSE (FILMVIRUS). Thai short films will be shown in the exhibition. These short films are selec




POLL 27: SEARCHING FOR HAPPINESS

FRAGRANCE OF THE WIND (2008, Chaiwat Wiansantia, A+++++)

Filed under: Uncategorized — celinejulie @ 12:51 am

This is about a poll in my bilingual blog at http://celinejulie.blogspot.com

My poll 27 is inspired by two new Thai short films I love – FRAGRANCE OF THE WIND (GLIN SAI LOM) (2007, Chaiwat Wiansantai) and TWO STORIES ABOUT DHAMMA (2008, Natchanon Jitweerapat + Issara Kollum). There are many things I like about these two entirely different films, and one thing I like about them is that they make me think about my own happiness and how to search for it.

What I like the most in FRAGRANCE OF THE WIND is that I think it shares the same wavelength with me. At first this film looks like a very simple experimental, or non-narrative film to me. It opens with a black-and-white shot of a city street in rewinding mode. We see cars moving backward and we hear some cliché songs of the Beatles, such as YESTERDAY. Then we see rural scenes in color. We see the clear beautiful sky. We see leaves swaying in the wind. We see some rural people and their activities. After a while, we move back to the city and the color images fade into black-and-white.

There seems to be nothing new in this film. Nothing exciting. No new idea. But I just felt so great watching it. The film seems to let me feel the warm sunlight, breathe the fresh air, feel the wind blow, and all of that lead to a peace of mind. I don’t know how Chaiwat Wiansantai shot the images in this film. The rural images in this film have nothing special about it, but they are just right, just appropriate for me. They are not too beautiful, not as beautiful as postcard images. They are a bit more realistic than postcard images, but not as starkly realistic as in documentary films. The purpose of these images may be to convey the atmosphere, not the messages. And they truly succeed in conveying the pleasant rural atmosphere to me, who spend 99 % of my life in Bangkok. Some images in this film look like images in other Thai short films, but when I see the nearly similar images in other Thai short films, I feel bored. I don’t know why nearly similar images can cause such different feelings in me. So I guess it must be the wavelength. Chaiwat Wiansantai can make his rural scenes truly connect with me (who knows nothing about rural areas), while other Thai filmmakers cannot do it.

Since FRAGRANCE OF THE WIND doesn’t seem to tell a story and doesn’t show us a character, the film inspires me to imagine some stories or some characters by myself. Watching FRAGRANCE OF THE WIND inspires me to imagine a character a little bit similar to the one in YELLA (2007, Christian Petzold, Germany, A+++++). It makes me think about a rural boy who can’t live in his rural hometown for whatever reason. He must go to work in a city. He is sometimes happy, sometimes unhappy with the life in the city. When he feels unhappy with the life in the city, he yearns for the warm shadow of the trees in his rural hometown. But he is not truly happy in his hometown, either. Thus, he doesn’t want to settle in his hometown. Both the city and his hometown make him happy and unhappy in different ways, so he doesn’t want to stay in only one of them forever. He wants to alternately stay in both of them. His soul is torn. He is physically living, but his mind is sometimes restless and becomes a wandering ghost, like Yella.

FRAGRANCE OF THE WIND also makes me think about my own kinds of happiness. To see the beautiful sky, to see trees swaying in the wind, to see clouds passing by, like in this film, is one kind of my happiness. I also enjoy going upcountry from time to time, like the unseen traveler in this film. And sometimes when I feel bad about some troubles in the present time, I try to make myself happy again by thinking about the good old days, especially thinking about my high school friends. Thus, I like the use of the song YESTERDAY in this film, though I’m not a fan of the Beatles at all. Many elements in FRAGRANCE OF THE WIND can connect to my way of finding temporary happiness.

But does one NEED to travel upcountry to breathe the fresh air to find TRUE happiness? The protagonist in the first story in TWO STORIES ABOUT DHAMMA doesn’t think so, and I have to agree with him. The first story in TWO STORIES ABOUT DHAMMA corresponds to my own thinking that, in order to find a peace of mind, I don’t need to go anywhere at all. I don’t need to go upcountry, go to a forest, or go to a beautiful park. I can have a real peace of mind just by sitting in my own room and clearing my thought. To be truly happy, to find heaven in one’s own heart, I just don’t have to go anywhere. I only have to control my mind, like the character in TWO STORIES ABOUT DHAMMA. Where we live is not the real cause of heaven. Heaven must be caused by our minds, no matter where we stay. We can have a real peace of mind, if we have just a little room of our own, though we stay in an ugly crowded city like Bangkok.