Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Social Sciences will show a programme of provocative political documentaries as part of their ดูหนังกับสังวิท (‘watch movies with Social Sciences’) season. The event, Resonance of Revolt, will take place on 19th and 26th February, and includes Uruphong Raksasad’s Paradox Democracy and Vichart Somkaew’s Contemporary Thai Political Trilogy (ไตรภาคการเมืองร่วมสมัยไทย).
Paradox Democracy documents the recent student protest movement, and features clips from rally speeches by Arnon Nampa and other protest leaders, intercut with extracts from The Revolutionist (คือผู้อภิวัฒน์), a play about Pridi Banomyong staged by the Crescent Moon theatre group in 2020. The film’s working title was Paradox October, and it includes footage shot at the 6th October 1976 commemorative exhibition at Thammasat University in 2020.
Contemporary Thai Political Trilogy is a portmanteau project combining three of Vichart’s recent short films: Cremation Ceremony (ประวัติย่อของบางสิ่งที่หายไป), 112 News from Heaven, and The Letter from Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ). The anthology’s structure reflects three eras of modern Thai politics: 1932–1957 (the establishment of democratic institutions), 1957–1992 (prolonged military dictatorship), and 1992 to the present day (liberal reforms, followed by political polarisation).
Paradox Democracy was previously shown at The 28th Thai Short Film and Video Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์สั้น ครั้งที่ 28) in Salaya. Contemporary Thai Political Trilogy was shown last year as part of ซิเนมากลางนา (‘cinema in the middle of a rice field’), a rural outdoor screening held in a rice field in Phayao. Previous ดูหนังกับสังวิท screenings have included Ing K.’s Dog God (คนกราบหมา) and Shakespeare Must Die (เชคสเปียร์ต้องตาย).
Paradox Democracy documents the recent student protest movement, and features clips from rally speeches by Arnon Nampa and other protest leaders, intercut with extracts from The Revolutionist (คือผู้อภิวัฒน์), a play about Pridi Banomyong staged by the Crescent Moon theatre group in 2020. The film’s working title was Paradox October, and it includes footage shot at the 6th October 1976 commemorative exhibition at Thammasat University in 2020.
Contemporary Thai Political Trilogy is a portmanteau project combining three of Vichart’s recent short films: Cremation Ceremony (ประวัติย่อของบางสิ่งที่หายไป), 112 News from Heaven, and The Letter from Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ). The anthology’s structure reflects three eras of modern Thai politics: 1932–1957 (the establishment of democratic institutions), 1957–1992 (prolonged military dictatorship), and 1992 to the present day (liberal reforms, followed by political polarisation).
Paradox Democracy was previously shown at The 28th Thai Short Film and Video Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์สั้น ครั้งที่ 28) in Salaya. Contemporary Thai Political Trilogy was shown last year as part of ซิเนมากลางนา (‘cinema in the middle of a rice field’), a rural outdoor screening held in a rice field in Phayao. Previous ดูหนังกับสังวิท screenings have included Ing K.’s Dog God (คนกราบหมา) and Shakespeare Must Die (เชคสเปียร์ต้องตาย).