BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME TO THE SCREENING

BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME TO THE SCREENING

 

The screening of HSP: THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM THE TERRORS OF THE MIND (2013, Rouzbeh Rashidi, Ireland, 120min) and BIRTH OF THE SEANÉMA (2004, Sasithorn Ariyavicha, Thailand, 70min, black and white, silent) was very successful. I am deeply grateful to Wiwat Lertwiwatwongsa, Rouzbeh Rashidi, Sasithorn Ariyavicha, the technicians of Thammasat University Library, and every viewer who came to the screening today. You made my dream come true.

 

I also want to thank the Thai Film Foundation, which screened BIRTH OF THE SEANÉMA for the first time in 2004 and another time in 2007. That first screening in 2004 is one of the most memorable film-viewing experiences of me.

 

I also want to thank every person who organized the Bangkok International Art Film Festival in 1997, and the Second Bangkok Experimental Film Festival in 1999. These two festivals made me fall in love completely with experimental films, especially the ones made by Martin Arnold, Robert Arnold, Bruce Baillie, Angela Christlieb, David Gatten, Michael Shaowanasai, John Smith, and Isabell Spengler.

 

I also want to thank Sonthaya Subyen, who screened WINTER REMAINS (2002, Sasithorn Ariyavicha, 19min) at Thammasat University Library more than a decade ago. I learned a lot about films from Sonthaya. He gives me a lot of inspiration.  Why did I want to show two experimental films today? It is partly because many years ago I saw great experimental films made by Chantal Akerman, James Broughton, Bruce Conner, Hellmuth Costard, Su Friedrich, Alexander Kluge, Matthias Müller, Ulrike Ottinger, Alain Robbe-Grillet, and Werner Schroeter in the Filmvirus programs organized by Sonthaya Subyen. What he did many years ago partly inspired what I did today.

 

If you like HSP: THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM THE TERRORS OF THE MIND, you can watch other films of Rashidi from the link below:

http://rouzbehrashidi.com/news/?p=2774

 

If you like BIRTH OF THE SEANÉMA, you can read Sasithorn’s interview by Graiwoot Chulphongsathorn in English here:

http://www.criticine.com/interview_article.php?id=28

http://criticine.com/interview_article.php?id=30

or in Thai here:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/graiwoot-chulphongsathorn/sean%C3%A9ma-and-the-archive-%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%AA%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%A0%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A9%E0%B8%93%E0%B9%8C%E0%B9%83%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3-bioscope-%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%B5-2547/10152186727350772

 

As a cinephile, my father is Goethe Institute. My mother is Alliance Française. My teacher is Sonthaya Subyen. My most favorite place is the Marathon Film Festival organized by the Thai Film Foundation. After the screening of these two films that I love today, now I can die with my eyes closed. :-) :-) :-)