Stories from the North at 6 Degrees

The 6 Degrees of Separation short-film series continues on Saturday with The Stories from the North -- nine fascinating and often fantastical vignettes of rural life by Uruphong Raksasad. Together, they make an 80-minute feature. Hopefully, Uruphong will be around afterward for a talk.

His latest feature, Agrarian Utopia, is making its way around the festival circuit (it won a NETPAC special mention at Rotterdam) and will hopefully play in Thailand at some point later in the year -- hopefully at least for a limited theatrical run.

The screenings are at the new Kiosk cafe at the back of the Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC) at Bangkok's hoity-toity Emporium mall. The showtime is 5:30. Admission is free.

Arrive early and grab a chair, or maybe a pillow on the floor.

The first session was last Saturday, with Michael Shaowanasai on hand to present his short films, and talk about them afterward -- always great fun when Michael's involved.

I was a little concerned that it wasn't a good venue for film screenings, what with all the commotion. People were sitting around talking -- I know, I know, I'm as shocked as anyone, that people would go to a coffee shop and sit and talk. The audacity! The cafe owner was cheerfully dispensing wine to anyone who would drink it. There were two electric jazz guitarists trading licks, backed by a drummer. Then the bass player showed up late. Just when I thought it couldn't get any more out of hand, a TV crew came in and started shooting, while the screening was going on.

But you know, once the films started rolling, the chairs turned around and folks hunkered down and paid attention. It turned out okay. The series continues on Saturdays until April 11.