Apichatpong Weerasethakul on Identity and Film Censorship in Thailand

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Podcast \ Personalities

Host and producer: Karolis Vyšniauskas

Photographer: Berta Tilmantė

Videographer: Mindaugas Drigotas

Sound engineer: Kata Bitowt

2018 February 27

Cinema \ Art

“Cinema is like voodoo. I still don’t know how it works. Mainstream studios can spend millions but still the movie flops,” - says Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the most celebrated Thai film director.

His slow, mysterious, experimental style of filmmaking got him Palme d’Or, the main prize at Cannes film festival. Now he is in the jury of the Oscars, but does he like what he sees?

We got a chance to meet Apichatpong Weerasethakul, or Joe as his Western friends call him, to discuss his identity, film censorship in Thailand and the mystery of cinema.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul in Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius, where he presented his exhibition Luminous Shadows. ©Berta Tilmantaitė

Apichatpong Weerasethakul before the interview in Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius. ©Berta Tilmantaitė

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Further reading:

Where to begin with Apichatpong Weerasethakul by John Berra, BFI

In ‘Cemetery of Splendour,’ a Nod to Dream Logic by Glenn Kenny, The New York Times

Mieganti šalis by Živilė Pipinytė, 7 Meno Dienos

Cinema \ Art

This episode was possible with the help of Meno Avilys, an NGO who invited Apichatpong Weerasethakul to Vilnius.

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