Apichatpong Weerasethakul facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Apichatpong Weerasethakul
อภิชาติพงศ์ วีระเศรษฐกุล
Apichatpong Weerasethakul in 2019
Born	(1970-07-16) 16 July 1970 (age 54) Bangkok, Thailand
Other names	Joe Jei (เจ้ย)
Education	Khon Kaen University SAIC
Occupation	Film director producer screenwriter
Years active	1993–present

Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thai: อภิชาติพงศ์ วีระเศรษฐกุล; RTGS: Aphichatphong Wirasetthakun; IPA: [ʔà.pʰí.tɕʰâːt.pʰōŋ wīː.rá.sèːt.tʰà.kūn], born 16 July 1970) is a famous Thai independent film director, writer, and producer. He is also a Professor at Tama Art University in Tokyo.

Apichatpong works outside the usual Thai film studio system. He has made many feature films and short films. His friends and fans often call him "Joe" because his full name is long.

His films have won many big awards. For example, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives won the top prize, the Palme d'Or, at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Tropical Malady won the Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Also, Blissfully Yours won a main award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

His film Syndromes and a Century was the first Thai film to be shown in a major competition at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival. His movie Cemetery of Splendour was also highly praised at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Apichatpong has received many other honors, like the 2016 Principal Prince Claus Award. His first film in English was Memoria (2021), which was filmed in Colombia.

He has also shown his art in galleries, including FACT in Liverpool and the BFI Gallery in London.

Early Life and Education

Apichatpong was born in Bangkok, Thailand. His family was Thai Chinese. Both of his parents were doctors who worked in a hospital in Khon Kaen. His grandparents came from Canton, China.

Apichatpong grew up in a traditional Buddhist family. He was around rituals that mixed animism (belief in spirits) and Hinduism. These spiritual ideas can be seen in the dream-like style of his films today.

Some of his early inspirations included the Dada art movement and the "boxes" made by artist Joseph Cornell.

Apichatpong studied at Khon Kaen University. He earned a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1994. He made his very first short film, Bullet, in 1993. Later, he went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in filmmaking in 1997.

Career Highlights

Apichatpong in Vienna in 2010

Apichatpong's first full-length film was Dokfa nai meuman (Mysterious Object at Noon). This film was a documentary inspired by a game called "exquisite corpse" that surrealist artists played.

In 1999, he helped start a film company called Kick the Machine. This company helps him make his own films and supports other experimental films and videos from Thailand. The company also helped organize the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival several times.

Award-Winning Films

Apichatpong's 2002 film Sud Sanaeha (Blissfully Yours) was his first story-based movie. It won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. However, it was censored in his home country, Thailand.

His 2004 film Sud Pralad (Tropical Malady) won a Jury Prize at the same festival. This low-budget film was a fun tribute to Thai movies from the 1960s and 1970s.

Besides his feature films, Apichatpong is also known for his short films and art installations. For example, he made Worldly Desires for the 2005 Jeonju International Film Festival.

In 2005, he helped with the Tsunami Digital Short Films project. This was a series of 13 films made to remember the 2004 tsunami that hit Thailand. His film for this project was called Ghost of Asia.

The Thai Office of Contemporary Art and Culture also gave Apichatpong the 2005 Silpathorn Award for filmmaking. This award honors living artists in different fields.

Syndromes and Film Censorship

In 2006, Apichatpong released Syndromes and a Century. This film was made for a festival celebrating Mozart's 250th birthday. It was shown at the 63rd Venice Film Festival and many other film events.

The film's release in Thailand was stopped because the Thai Censorship Board demanded that four scenes be removed. Apichatpong refused to cut his film. He said he would not show it in Thailand if he had to change it.

The scenes the censors wanted removed included doctors kissing and drinking in a hospital. Other scenes showed a Buddhist monk playing a guitar and two monks playing with a remote-control toy. The censors would not return the film unless the changes were made.

This censorship happened while Thailand was thinking about a new film ratings system. This new law would give the government power to ban films that they thought would "disrupt social order" or "impact national security." The ratings board would mostly be made up of government officials and police.

To fight against this law, Apichatpong and other directors started the Free Thai Cinema Movement. Apichatpong said, "We disagree with the right of the state to ban films." He believed there were already laws to handle any problems filmmakers might cause.

A protest against the new law was held in Bangkok. Apichatpong and other Thai directors held signs that said: "No Freedom. No Democracy. No Peace." Despite their efforts, the law, which allowed films to be cut and banned, was passed on 20 December 2007.

Recent Works

In 2009, Apichatpong had his first solo art exhibition called "Primitive." It included videos and prints. This exhibition was shown in Germany and the UK. The work was filmed in Nabua, a town where the Mekong River separates Thailand and Laos.

In 2010, Apichatpong's film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. This is one of the highest honors a film can receive. The film was also chosen to represent Thailand at the 83rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

In 2012, Apichatpong's film Mekong Hotel was shown at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2013, Apichatpong received the "Sharjah Biennial Prize" in the United Arab Emirates. He also won Japan's "Fukuoka Art and Culture Prize" in June.

In 2014, it was announced that Apichatpong would direct a short film for Short Plays, a soccer-themed movie with many directors. His short film was set in his hometown and featured its lake.

Apichatpong's most recent film, Memoria, was made with actress Tilda Swinton. It was filmed in Colombia in 2019 and premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. It won the Jury Prize there. Apichatpong also directed a part of The Year of the Everlasting Storm, which is a collection of short films.

Filmography

Feature Films

Short Films and Installations

• Bullet (1993)
• 0116643225059 (1994)
• Kitchen and Bedroom (1994)
• Like the Relentless Fury of the Pounding Waves (1996)
• Rice Artist Michael Shaowanasai's Performance (1996)
• 100 Years of Thai Cinema (1997)
• thirdworld (1998)
• The Lungara Eating Jell-O (1998)
• Windows (1999)
• Malee and the Boy (1999)
• Boys at Noon (2000)
• Boys at Noon / Girls at Night (2000)
• Haunted Houses Project: Thailand (2001)
• Secret Love Affair (for Tirana) (2001)
• Narratives: Masumi Is a PC Operator / Fumiyo Is a Designer / I Was Sketching / Swan's Blood (2001)
• Second Love in Hong Kong, co-director (2002)
• Golden Ship (2002)
• This and Million More Lights (2003)
• GRAF: Tong / Love Song / Tone (2004)
• It Is Possible That Only Your Heart Is Not Enough to Find You a True Love: True Love in Green / True Love in White (2004)
• Worldly Desires (2004)
• Ghost of Asia, co-director (2005)
• Waterfall (2006)
• Faith (2006)
• The Anthem (2006)
• Unknown Forces (2007)
• Luminous People (2007)
• Because (2007)
• My Mother's Garden (2007)
• Meteorites (2007)
• The Palace (2007)
• Emerald (2007)
• Vampire (2008)
• Mobile Men (2008)
• Phantoms of Nabua (2009)
• Empire (2010)
• M Hotel (2011)
• For Tomorrow For Tonight (2011)
• The Importance of Telepathy (2012)
• Cactus River (2012)
• Mekong Hotel (2012)
• Ashes (2012)
• Sakda (Rousseau) (2012)
• Dilbar (2013)
• Fireworks (2014)
• Fever Room (2016)

See Also

In Spanish: Apichatpong Weerasethakul para niños