‘Be truthful to yourself’

Cannes Palme d’Or-winning Thai filmmaker and visual artist ApichatpongWeerasethakul presented a compelling notion before emerging filmmakersat Qumra 2018: The distant possibility of hooking up all the brains inthe world to share their dreams.“We will no longer need cinema then,” he said, underpinning his ownmeditative approach to film as a medium that is after all, “evolved fromdreams”.Weerasethakul’s masterclass took audiences on his original journey incinema, shaped by the collective memory of his own and his friends, andshaped from their dreams. He connected dreams to movies, reminding audiences of the four cycles ofthe brain while one is at sleep, and concluding that “movies evolvedfrom this”. He said sleep is “like cinema but much better, as variousscenarios from our memories play out.”For him, the art of making films is to exorcise these memories and laythem out bare. In today’s world, where message distortion and fake newsthrive, his own interpretation of storytelling and history is that theyare “devices to bluff memories and to manipulate them”.Weerasethakul was also vocal about the concerns that he sees as afilmmaker in Thailand’s contemporary political scene. At one point, hespeculated how his own cinematic interpretations and visualinstallations could be perceived by the military authorities, and toldabout how several of his friends had their social media accountsmonitored and were sent to camps “for attitude adjustment,” where theyare “tortured psychologically”.He also presented a captivating presentation on his journey, takingaudiences through visuals of his hometown, the people and places thatshaped his memories, and his cutting-edge installations that interpolatecinema, art, visuals and theatre, into something that is singularlymysterious. Weerasethakul said he is not overtly concerned about whether his works would be understood for what he intended.“After a screening of my movie, one person got very angry and demanded arefund. I obliged. Over time, I have come to care less and less aboutsuch responses because what matters is how honest you are. If youbelieve in conventional cinema go for it but make it the best,” he said.“You are your first audience and you must be truthful to yourself.”Urging young talents not to be let down by criticism, he reminisced howhis teacher had asked him to “go back to school and learn filmmaking”after watching his film.Discussing his movies, including the Palme d’Or winning Uncle BoonmeeWho Can Recall his Past Lives, Weerasethakul said his fascination forcinema was shaped by the works of Steven Spielberg (ET and CloseEncounters of the Third Kind).“The way he deals with science fiction, and how he introduced a lot ofsmoke and backlighting”, fascinated the young boy,” he said.