Thai shorts in 'Six Degrees of Separation'

Thai independent shorts will be shown on Saturdays starting tomorrow at the new Kiosk cafe in the Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC).

This Saturday's featured filmmaker is Michael Shaowanasai, the actor, director and performance artist who is perhaps best known for his Adventure of Iron Pussy collaboration with Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

A hard-working actor, Michael appears in the new GTH romance Best of Times. He plays a stern judge who threatens to lock the main character up for contempt when he won't stop talking in his court. Michael was also featured earlier this year in The Happiness of Kati. But it's his transvestite portrayals, such as the secret agent Iron Pussy or a regal high-society matron in Observation of the Monument that have gained him notice in the art world, including this year's Venice Biennale.

In the coming weeks, other filmmakers to be featured will be Uruphong Raksasad (Stories from the North), Sompot "Boat" Chidgasornpongse (Diseases and a Hundred Year Period), animator Boonsri Tangtrongsin (Invisible City), Jakrawal Nilthamrong (Man and Gravity) and Anocha Suwichakornpong (Graceland).

Here's the line-up:

March 7

Films by Michael Shaowanasai

• Bunzai Chaiyo, Episode II, The Adventure of Iron Pussy/22 min./1999
• Observation of the Monument/5 min./2008
• Long Night -- Short Film/8 min./2008
• Le Cirque de l'homme/18 min./2008

March 14

Films by Uruphong Raksasad

• Stories from the North (เรื่องเล่าจากเมืองเหนือ)/80 min./2005

March 21

Films by Sompot "Boat" Chidgasornpongse

• To Infinity and Beyond (ลอยฟ้า or Loy Fah)/10 min./2004
• Physical Therapy/2 min./2007
• Yesterday/13 min./2007
• Diseases and a Hundred Year Period/20 min./2008

March 28

Films by Boonsri Tangtrongsin

• The Mute Girl and the Singing Village/2004
• Everyday Life/2004
• Just Cooking/2004
• To Be Someone/2004
• The Journey of Emptiness/2005
• I Wanna Be a Red Fish/2006
• The Invisible City/2007

April 4

Films by Jakrawal Nilthamrong

• Parallel Journey/8 min./2007
• Man with a Video Camera/9 min./2007
• Orchestra/24 min./2008
• Man and Gravity/10 min./2008

April 11

Films by Anocha Suwichakornpong

• Graceland/18 min./2006
• Like. Real. Love./38 min./2008

The showtime is 5.30pm at the cafe inside the TCDC, which is on the sixth floor of Bangkok's Emporium shopping center, adjacent to the SFX cinemas. Admission is free.

The series is organized with the cooperation of the Thai Film Foundation. (I'm still having trouble navigating their website in Firefox 3. Help!)

I'll be curious to check this out and see how comfortable and conducive the environment is for actually sitting down and attentively watching the films. There are many I've not yet seen. Hopefully the blender grinding up iced lattes won't be too loud.

(Cross-published at Bangkok Cinema Scene)