24th New York Queer Experimental Film Festival
Saturday, November 19, 2011 · 8:00pm
Bodily Fluid is Revolutionary
$12 ·  
I'm Fine Image
A trans-woman relaxing in a cage. A boy giving the cesspool a blowjob. Subtitles no one can read. This program showcases the recent work of Thai media artists who push the boundaries of sexual and political expression. We present works by well-known makers Michael Shaowanasai, Thunska Pansittivorakul, and Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, all of whom have been censored or banned by the Ministry of Culture for their debasement of Thai values. Additionally, we feature exciting young artists Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, Chama Lekpla, and Korn Kanogkekarin, who gleefully carry on the queer tradition despite the climate of political unrest and social turmoil.
Ma Vie Incompléte et Inachevée
Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
2007, Thailand, video, color, sound,
French w/Thai/English subtitles, 4 min.

Grandmother desperately wants her granddaughter to appease her sexual need with her little tongue, but her desire won't be easily satisfied since her own son - the girl's father - also wants his daughter for the same purpose.

X
Korn Kanogkekarin
2010, Thailand, video, color, sound, 5 min.

X for symmetry. X for chromosome. X for erasure. X marks the spot.

X Image
After Shock (Wan Fa Suai [The Day the Sky Was Beautiful])
Thunska Pansittivorakul
2005, Thailand, video, color, sound, 12 min.

A silent foray across the skies, the streets, an amusement park and the commercial areas of a small town ultimately takes us to the ocean. Across the water, we close in on a young man's crotch. The film culminates in blood and semen.

Observation of the Monument
Michael Shaowanasai
2008, Thailand, video, color, sound, 3 min.

The viewer is positioned in the crowd, directed to look up at the one who is placed on the pedestal.

I'm Fine
Tanwarin Sukkhapisit
2008, Thailand, video, color, sound,
Thai w/English subtitles, 3 min.

The director/actor sits in a cage on a hot sunny day in front of Democracy Monument in Bangkok. She's used to it; she's doing fine.

Essence de Femme
Chama Lekpla
2011, Thailand, video, color, sound,
Thai w/English subtitles, 16 min.

What would it look like if humanity had no gender? A kathoey noi (baby tranny) shows us how to cook international chicken curry (curry is slang for prostitute in Thai). People have sex with places, the locations they inhabit. A girly boy and a girly girl play snooker and then get dirty. These three scenarios propose new modes of sexuality and relationality.

Essence de Femme Image
Look at Me!
Tanwarin Sukkhapisit
2007, Thailand, video, B&W, sound, 5 min.

On a stormy night, we catch glimpses of each other.

Don't Forget Me
Manatsak Dorkmai
2003, Thailand, video, color, sound,
Thai w/English subtitles, 10 min. 

Archival footage of the October 6, 1976 massacre of pro-democracy student protestors in Bangkok is juxtaposed with a Siam Society visit to the Yellow Banana Leaf Ghosts tribe.

Don't Forget Me Image
Burmese Man Dancing
Nok Paksnavin 
2008, Thailand, video, color, sound, 8 min.

Images of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand are overlaid with Thai commentary about them. Subtitles are provided in an invented language.

Middle-Earth
Thunska Pansittivorakul
2007, Thailand, video, color, sound, 8 min.

"To show naked men is forbidden in Thailand, but the fact that we did show it on a big screen is a statement. It is my political expression. To just show it, without saying anything more, already means something. The authorities ban films for the silliest reasons, so here it is."