On the 1st of August, Office of Contemporary Art & Culture, Ministry Of Culture,
Pinnaree Sunpitak,Vasan Sittikhet and Rerkrit Teeravanich for Visual art;
Sirivora Kaewkarn for Literature;
Narong Prangchareon for Music;
Nimit Pipitkul for Performing Art;
and Thunska Pansittivorakul for Film
The award which consists of Silpathorn brooch of honor and 100,000 baht will be given to the mentioned artists on the 6th of September at the Queens Gallery
Former Silpathorn Film Artists in the last 3 years are Pen-eak Ratanareung, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Wisit Sasanatiang all top-notch directors
Thunska Pansittivorakul (born on 22nd of October 1973)graduated from Department of Art Education, Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn
He is the founder of Thaiindie.com, a group of independent filmmakers with unique style
Many of his short films and documentary features have been screened in festivals around the world. Happy
The following interview will be printed on Silpathorn programs this year (2007)
You have other interesting involvement in film currently?
- Writing articles about Asian, Indie Films, and Poster Design for magazines (Movie Time Weekly, Bioscope, a day, Thai Film, Hamburger, and Sarn Kra Toon, etc.)
- Teaching in 2 faculties at
- Guest Speaker in universities and lecturer about overall prospect of Thai shorts and indy films in many countries such as
- Founder of Thai Indie (thaiindie.com)
Tell me about Thaiindie
- Thai independent films problem is the lack of database. We do have big films database from only some studios. In other countries, you can search for any film from any studio. But there is no way to do that with shorts and indy films here. Moreover, Thaiindie is a way to present our works to international festivals. Thai film image in general is now all about commercial, Comedy, and Horror. We just want to offer some diversity, and make people know that there are so many good filmmakers here who are even better than me. Thats why Ive formed this group of film makers who are absolutely the opposite of what we have in the market right now.
- We started in the late of 2004. Within a few years, our films have been shown in more than 70 international festivals. At first, it was self-funded since there was no sponsor. Until this year we are financially supported by ANA (Art Network Asia), an organization that supports art in
- We have been doing something more commercial this year such as MV, but not for everyone who could pay. We only do MV for those whose style compatible to us like Assajan Jakgawan, Soundlanding, and Goose. Big record labels are just not our cup of tea. They should hire someone neat, definitely not us
What inspired you to embark upon this career?
- In my first year at the university, it was the time we should question ourselves about what we really want from life. I loved going to art exhibitions, and finally I saw Wolfgang Tilmans photographs that were not the nice and well-composed photos they were supposed to be from what we learned in class. There was a photo of mess in a living room which could make you envision a raving party the night before. Aesthetically, this photo was nothing but junks, pizza scraps, and rotten stuffs. But for me, it was bursting with memory, feelings, stories, and reflection of people. It was so real, and there was nothing wrong with that. Such an interesting way to tell a story. It made me feel like making a film that tells things like this.
- Meanwhile I was acquainted with PLi (Chalida Uabumrungjit) by chance. She is in Thai Film Foundation that holds Short Film Competition every year. After that, I wrote articles about Asian Films for the foundations Thai Film Quarterly and made my first short film for the competition. Out of 5 judges, the only one who liked my film was PJeuy (Apichartpong Weerasethkul) He walked to me, said he liked the film and wanted to send it to a festival. It was selected. It might sound easy, sending films to festivals, but its actually very difficult. There are so many filmmakers all over the world. At least there are 500 films sent for one festival, and they might choose only 50. And there might be ten thousand something for bigger events. I started from one festival to the next and the next while making more films.
What is the inspiration for an art filmmaker like you?
- Personal issues. I think it is a contemporary phenomenon of these days. They used to make many films relating to public issues. But we all have our own digital camera now. Its easier and cheaper to shoot and edit. The technology is more approachable, and people are moving toward themselves. Im interested in VDO. Im interested in personal issues. Society used to be the reflection of a person, but now its one person reflecting the whole society. We are the production of this culture anyway.
- Most of my works are about sex. Between Art and obscenity, lies a very thin line. Some might think that my films are porn, but if you bring them close together for comparison, you will definitely see the difference. I talk about sex because I strongly feel the hypocrisy around here. We say that we need to maintain our virtuous culture, that nudity is Western thing. Thats so untrue. We had nudity on wall paintings in temples. Thai girls used to walk around topless. We started wearing clothes because of the Western! Because we didnt want them to think that we were so barbarian, right? Sombat, Nathaya, Sorapong used to be naked in films, but now its forbidden. Sex is seen as something disgusting and shouldnt be mentioned. For me, the more you try to hide, the more interesting it becomes. This attempt to ban sex gives people pressure and they turn to Camfrog. Thai People are really into it. Also, we have so many cases of rape. Im not saying Hey! Lets go naked! What Im trying to say is naked is not always obscenity. There are more aspects in that which could reveal our lives, our thoughts, and our society. I also believe that people can learn, think, and make a decision for themselves. Please stop treating us like a 5-year-old child, covering our eyes whenever people kiss in a film. In my works, you can see what human beings are about, the good part and the bad part, with no intention to shape you into an ideal citizen. I just want to say that you have the right to choose. Now we are fooling ourselves, censoring alcohol on TV even when any baby can guess that its a bottle of beer. They censor even cartoon when Shizuka is in her bathtub. What is happening? Double standards are everywhere. Newspapers attacked Emmy when she wore an impropriate dress, but in the same paper there are pictures of girls covering in less fabric. You criticize people for what you are also doing. My films are saying about these things Ive found, what have spawned me, and thats it, without pointing that this is bad or evil. I think my audiences can judge that, and have the right to know anything.
What is the difference between Art and Commercial films?
- Commercial film is about revenue. Not that theres no artistic value at all, but it aims to make profit. Actually, Art or Commercial is fine for me. I only think that we need diversity, because we have different tastes. Some like fried egg, some like omelet. Or we might wanna go for fried egg instead of omelet that we have everyday sometimes. We should have choices. I dont have anything against Comedy or Horror, but we cant have only snacks on our dish. There should be nutritious stuffs to feed your brain, otherwise its unhealthy.
Any approach to expand Art films group of audiences and make more commercial profit?
- I dont hope to make a difference in this country with what I do. I only think about today, doing the best I can. And if there shall be any change, thats about tomorrow. Tomorrow is the subsequent result of today, not the result of daydreaming about what we will have or will be. And I never want to do this for anybody but myself. Taking full responsibility in your job can already affect other people. I dont expect that art will be salable some day because its about tomorrow. What we should do rather than blabbering and building air castle is to develop ourselves. Then our works will say everything. However, we should keep in mind that everything cant last forever. The prize, the fame, the profit, they are nothing. We all die at the end. Having a chance to live, shouldnt we be creating something more than some number in the bank account?
What can we do in order to make Thai films more internationally well-known and accepted?
- First, we have to define international. For me, films are already an international language. But if it means being accepted by foreigners, I think any film can be accepted if it is good enough. Its better not to take Go-Inter as the ultimate goal for Thai film industry. If our land can grow rice, we have to learn the rice growing techniques, how to get the best grains of rice, and people will come marching to buy from our door. And they cant buy this kind of rice from other countries, because the water and temperature here is different. Film is a story. Thai people have our own stories. Theres no need to make bread out of Thai rice and hope that Farang will enjoy the taste. If our rice is good, they will want to try.
