Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Thai filmmaker Apichatpong ‘Joe’ Weerasethakul is widely praised as one of the central figures in contemporary cinema. Trained as an architect in Thailand and as a visual artist in Chicago, he has stunned the film world with five innovative and dreamlike features made since the year 2000 - including award-winning films such as Blissfully Yours, Tropical Malady, and Syndromes and a Century. He is also an acclaimed installation artist, exhibiting his work in museums and art spaces all over the world. His current film and installation project Primitive is on show at the Haus der Kunst in Munich and will be presented at FACT, Liverpool, in the fall of 2009.

This first English-language volume on Apichatpong Weerasethakul looks at his works from a variety of angles and is extensively illustrated (245 colour photographs). James Quandt, the editor and author of the analytical career overview which introduces the book, is one of the foremost film critics and curators working in North America today. Further contributors include the cultural and political theorist Benedict Anderson, filmmaker Mark Cousins, art curator Karen Newman, critics Tony Rayns and Kong Rithdee, and the Academy Award winning actress and cinephile Tilda Swinton.

With two interviews, conducted by James Quandt, and his personal essays on film, politics and “ghosts in the darkness,” the filmmaker’s own voice is also a strong presence in the book. The Appendix comprises a selected bibliography, compiled by Chris Stults, and a full annotated filmography, compiled by Simon Field and Alexander Horwath.