BANGKOK — Palme d’Or-winning director Apichatpong Weerasethakul and four other Thai filmmakers plan to make short films representing the future of Thailand. Equipped with talents and unique styles, all they need is funding.
What will Thailand be like looking ahead a decade from now? Five of the country’s top directors are looking to answer this question through their best skill: filmmaking.
“Though I think [film] is fundamentally propaganda, it depends on how we negotiate with this medium,” said Apichatpong from the fundraising clip. “To create a common space where different ideas, beliefs and identities are shared is to allow people to express themselves in a way that otherwise couldn’t be done in the public sphere.”
“Some people honestly believe that people shouldn’t have too much freedom,” added Wisit Sasanatieng, one of the Thai New Wave directors who directed the colorful melodrama “Tears of the Black Tiger” in 2000 as well as “Citizen Dog” in 2004 and “Senior” in 2015.
“So how can we live peacefully with these people for at least another 10 years? Can we share another side of the truth?,” Wisit asked.
“I want all of us to think about yourself in the next 10 years from now and about what we could do to make a better future as Thai citizens,” said Aditya Assarat, the director of Rotterdam’s Tiger award-winning film “Wonderful Town.”
Chookiat Sakveerakul, director of the 2006 thriller “13 Beloved” and the 2007 romantic drama “Love of Siam,” and Chulayarnnon Siriphol, an emerging visual artist and short film director, are also part of the project.
“Ten Years Thailand” will be a collection of short films created by five Thai directors reflecting the present Thailand and hoping to create dialog for a better future. It’s a continuation of the 2015 Hong Kong film “10 Years” which posed similar questions to five local directors, from which the original creators wished to forward the question to filmmakers of other Asian countries.
The project is the first initiation of Films For Free, a fundraising campaign for filmmaking that aims to create freedom of expression through art. The film, which will combine the five shorts, is expected to screen in cinemas by the end of the year.
Launched Monday and open until July 2, the crowdfund had reached USD$800 by Tuesday evening.
Those interested can support the project online.
