I’m really excited Uncle Boonme… is finally screening here at the YBCA on Feb 23rd, a sneak peak engagement. I will likely end up watching it again at the Sundance Kabuki theater (via San Francisco Film Society) the first week of March (4-11) as well. 

Apichatpong Weeasethakul is a Thai filmmaker. He was awarded the top prize, the Palm d’Or, at the Cannes Film Festival last year with Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives. He previously received Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2002 with Blisfully Yours. 

Although he garnered attention and international acclaim amongst world cinema circles throughout the ’00s, his films were not successes in his home country and have been highly censored by the Thai Censorship Board due to themes deemed inappropriate. The most controversial being a scene where a Buddhist monk was depicted strumming a guitar and two others playing with a flying saucer in Syndromes and a Century. 

His films are quite minimal, experimental with structure, and use deliberate pacing. All of them mostly take place in rural settings in Thailand, exhibit beautiful scenery, and deal with themes of transformation and memory. Conceivably an acquired taste, even for foreign film aficionados, but I would highly recommend watching Syndromes and a Century, which I’ve gone back to many times just to hear a mesmerizing piece of Thai folk music in one scene. 

Poster art by Chris Ware (upgrade over this)