Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Born 1970, Bangkok, Thailand.

Thai film-maker Apichatpong Weerasethakul takes an unusual approach to directing films: rather than taking charge, he gets everyone else – actors and production crew – involved in deciding what will happen to the characters and how the story will unfold. Beginnings, middles and endings are mixed up and swapped around; romance, sci-fi, comedy and horror can turn up in the same film. Fascinated as a child by the soaps, chat-shows and horror films on Thai TV, Weerasethakul throws everything into the mix of his films, using the apparent chaos that results to explore the fuzzy boundaries between memory and fantasy, between what’s real and what (maybe) isn’t. At the same time, Weerasethakul’s films explore real human relationships and emotions; his new film for International 06 is a moving portrait of a man’s dreams and hopes in the midst of endless change.

Feature Films (Selected Prizes)

2006 Syndromes and a Century

2004 Tropical Malady, Prix du Jury, Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, France; Critics’ Award, São Paulo International Film Festival, São Paulo, Brazil 

2003 The Adventure of Iron Pussy

2002 Blissfully Yours, Le Prix Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, France, 2002; The International Critics’ Award (FIPRESCI Prize), Buenos Aires Film Festival 2003, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Silver Screen Award: Young Cinema Award, Singapore International Film Festival 2003

2000 Mysterious Object at Noon (documentary)


Selected Shorts   

2005 Ghost of Asia, collaboration with Christelle Lheureux
Worldly Desires, South Korea

2004 It is Possible That Only Your Heart is Not Enough to Find You a True Love, South Korea

2003 This and Million More Lights, for Nelson Mandela Foundation, South Africa

2002 Golden Ship, Musea Brugge, Bruges, Belgium, and Opera City Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Second Love in Hong Kong, collaboration with Christelle Lheureux

2001 I was Sketching, segment of multi-projection narratives, ICC, Sapporo, Japan
Masumi is a PC Operator/Fumiyo is a Designer
Haunted Houses: Swan’s Blood, collaboration with Masahito Araki
Haunted Houses, Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey

2000 Boys at Noon

1999 Malee and the Boy

1998 The Lungara Eating Jell-O/World Artists for Tibet Exhibition

1997 thirdworld

1995 Like the Relentless Fury of the Pounding Waves

1994 Kitchen and Bedroom


Selected Exhibitions

2006 La force de l’art, Bernard Marcadé, Grand Palais, France

2005 Wonderbox, 11e Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement, Geneva, Switzerland
Baltic Triennial, Vilnius, Lithuania
EindhovenIstanbul, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Politics of Fun, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
KunstenFESTIVALdesArts, Brussels, Belgium

2004 Insomnia 48, Singapore
Taipei Biennial, Taipei, Taiwan
Busan Biennial, Busan, South Korea
MixMax, Artsonje Centre, Seoul, South Korea

2002 Kwangju Biennale, under Project 304 space, Gwangju, South Korea

2001 traversée, Musée d’Art moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris, France
Tirana Biennale, Tirana, Albania
Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey

1999 Cities on the Move, ‘Film Cities’, Thailand


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