Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong grew up in Khon Kaen in north-eastern Thailand. He began making film and video shorts in 1994, and completed his first feature in 2000. He has also mounted exhibitions and installations in many countries since 1998. Often non-linear, with a strong sense of dislocation, his works deal with memory, subtly addressed personal politics and social issues.

His art projects and feature films have won him widespread recognition and numerous festival prizes, including two prizes from the Cannes Film Festival. In 2005 he was presented with one of Thailand’s most prestigious awards, Silpatorn, by the Thai Ministry of Culture. In 2008, the French Minister of Culture bestowed on him the medal of Chevalier de l’ordre des arts et des letter (Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature). In 2011, he was given another honor for the same field with an Officer Medal, and later in 2017, Commandeurs medal.

His film, Syndromes and a Century, completed in late 2006, was the first Thai film to be selected for competition at the Venice Film Festival. Apichatpong is also one of 20 international artists and filmmakers commissioned to create a short film for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 2009, the Austrian Film Museum published a major English language monograph on his work.

His 2009 project, Primitive, consists of a large-scale video installation, an artist’s book, and a feature film, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. The film has won a Palme d’Or prize at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival in 2010, making it the first Southeast Asian film (and the 7th from Asia) to win the most prestigious award in the film world. In 2012, he is invited to participate in Documenta (13), one of the most well-known art exhibitions in Kassel, Germany. Apichatpong also received the Sharjah Biennial Prize at the 2013 Sharjah Biennial 11, UAE. He’s also a recipient of the Fukuoka Prize, Japan, 2013. In 2014, he received the Yanghyun Art Prize, one of the most prestigious prizes in Korea. In 2016, a retrospective of his films was presented at Tate Modern, London. He was the Principal Laureate of the 2016 Prince Claus Awards, the Netherlands. In 2019, Apichatpong was awarded the Artes Mundi prize, the UK’s largest prize for international contemporary art. His on-going project includes Fever Room, a projection performance about displaced consciousness. It has been presented at Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels (2016), Festival d’Automne, Paris (2016), Volksbühne, Berlin (2017), Wiener Festwochen, Vienna (2019), among others. He’s developing a new film, Memoria, set in Colombia. Apichatpong currently works and lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Apichatpong grew up in Khon Kaen in north-eastern Thailand. He began making film and video shorts in 1994, and completed his first feature in 2000. He has also mounted exhibitions and installations in many countries since 1998. Often non-linear, with a strong sense of dislocation, his works deal with memory, subtly addressed personal politics and social issues.

Feature Films:
Cemetery of Splendour / Rak Ti Khon Kaen, 2015
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives / Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat, 2010
Syndromes and a Century / Sang Sattawat, 2006
Tropical Malady / Sud Pralad, 2004
The Adventure of Iron Pussy / Huajai Toranong, 2003
Blissfully Yours / Sud Sanaeha, 2002
Mysterious Object at Noon / Dokfar Nai Meu Marn, 2000

Selected Shorts:
Blue, 2018
async – first light, 2017
Ablaze, 2016
Vapour, 2015
Cactus River, 2012
Mekong Hotel, 2012
Ashes, 2012
Sakda (Rousseau), 2012
M Hotel, 2011
Empire, 2010
A Letter to Uncle Boonmee, 2009
Mobile Men, 2008
Vampire, 2008
Luminous People, 2007
The Anthem, 2006
Worldly Desires, 2005
Ghost of Asia, in collaboration with Christelle Lheureux, 2005
Haunted Houses, 2001
Boys at Noon, 2000

Selected Installations:
Fiction, 2018
Synchronicity, in collaboration with Tsuyoshi Hisakado, 2018
SleepCinemaHotel, at International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2018
Memoria, Boy at Sea, 2017
Invisibility, 2016
Fireworks (Fans), 2016
Fireworks (Archives), 2014
Dilbar, in collaboration with Chai Siris, 2013
The Importance of Telepathy, in collaboration with Chai Siris, 2012
For Tomorrow For Tonight, 2011
The Primitive Project, 2009
Phantoms of Nabua, 2009
Unknown Forces, 2007
Emerald / Morakot, 2007
FAITH, 2006
Ghost of Asia, 2005

Performance:
Fever Room, 2015 – Present

Selected Awards and Honours:
• Artes Mundi Prize, UK, 2019
• FIAF (International Federation of Film Archives) Award, 2018
• Mikeldi Honor Award, Zinebi Film Festival, Spain 2018
• Commandeur de l’ordre des arts et des lettres, France, 2017
• The Prince Claus Awards, The Netherlands, 2016 (Principal Laureate)
• Grand Prize, Bildrausch Film Festival, Basel, Switzerland 2016 (Cemetery of Splendour)
• Asia Pacific Screen Award, Australia 2016 (Cemetery of Splendour)
• Gijon Film Festival Award, Spain 2015
• The Yanghyun Art Prize, Korea, 2014
• The Silver Mirror Honorary Award, Films From the South Festival, Norway, 2013
• Fukuoka Prize (Art and Culture), Fukuoka, Japan, 2013
• The Sharjah Biennial Prize, Sharjah Biennial 11th, UAE, 2013
• Officiers de l’ordre des arts et des lettres, France, 2011
• Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival, France, 2010 (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives)
• Winner of Asia Art Award Forum, Seoul, Korea, 2010
• One of the shortlisted for Hugo Boss Award, Guggenheim Foundation and Museum, New York, USA, 2010
• Syndromes and a Century was voted the best film of the decade from a poll conducted with international film scholars by Cinematheque Ontario, Canada, 2009
• Chevalier de l’ordre des arts et des lettres, France, 2008
• The Fine Prize, for outstanding emerging artist, The 55th Carnegie International, USA, 2008 (Unknown Forces
installation)
• Best Film Award, 9th Deauville Asian Film Festival, France, 2007 (Syndromes and a Century)
• Silpatorn Award, Thailand’s Ministry of Culture, Office of Contemporary Arts, 2005
• Special Jury Prize, Singapore International Film Festival, Singapore, 2005. (Tropical Malady)
• Best Film and Special Jury Prize, The 20th International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Turin, 2005 (Tropical Malady)
• Prix du Jury, Cannes Film Festival, France, 2004 (Tropical Malady)
• Grand Prize, Tokyo Filmex, Tokyo, 2004 (Tropical Malady)
• L’Age d’or Prize, Cine-decouvertes, Belgium 2004 (Tropical Malady)
• The International Critics’ Award (FIPRESCI Prize), Buenos Aires Film Festival, 2003 (Blissfully Yours)
• Silver Screen Award: Young Cinema Award, Singapore International Film Festival, Singapore, 2003 (Blissfully Yours)
• Prix Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival, France, 2002 (Blissfully Yours)