Films by Thunska Pansittivorakul

Thailand, Germany 2023, 108 min
by Thunska Pansittivorakul

Fragments from video clips, newsreels, news shows, animations, and propaganda films present humanity as an extremely murderous species in Damnatio memoriae (condemnation of memory). Alongside familiar scenes – the atom bomb, the Vietnam War, 9/11—we encounter all sorts of historical facts that have been swept under the carpet. There are the 'forgotten' massacres in Taiwan under the post-war dictatorship, for example, and who knew that in 1958 the US devised a plan to detonate an atom bomb on the moon? We also learn of the intriguing career of Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng (1953-1995). Her popularity was used in her home country for nationalist military propaganda, but her songs offered millions of Chinese people a moment of respite from the straitjacket of Communist rule.After opening with Carl Sagan’s words, “There is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves,” the film casts its gaze on the darker side of history. The square format of the film itself reinforces the oppressive sense that humanity has always been gripped by an urge to destroy. [36 IDFA]

Germany, Thailand 2021, 90 min
by Thunska Pansittivorakul, Phassarawin Kulsomboon

Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death, is an artistic, allegorical genre of the Late Dark Ages. Although this period was known for its strict religious virtues, it was also the most degenerate in European history. Danse Macabre is a dance ritual for people of all classes - from kings to beggars - serving as a reminder that death can happen at any time and to everyone.In this film, Danse Macabre is a dance that explores deaths that are remembered and forgotten in history, including those of kings, citizens, and stateless people, on land that many kings chose as their vacation residence. People's deaths are as different as the social class they belong to, in a country where social inequality strongly persists. Many deaths were suspicious in nature, but nobody dared to question them. This has happened over the past 90 years (and may well continue throughout the next century), just like what the deceased warned the living in this dance: "What we were, you are; what we are, you will be."

Germany, Thailand 2019, 75 min
by Thunska Pansittivorakul

This hybrid film was shot in an area called Santikhiri, which means 'the Hill of Peace', the name granted by the Kingdom of Thailand in 1978 in order to create a new image for this land. Located in the northernmost part of the country, the are is now a significant tourist  destination due to its mix of cultures between Thai and Chinese, despite a CIA report in 1971 that the area was one of the biggest centers of heroin production in Southeast Asia. However, after General Prem's government came to power in the 80s, everything — drugs, communism, corruption, human trafficking, and stateless persons in this area was entirely suppressed to foster order and peace. But, in reality, can this place be as peaceful as its new name? Since that time, what has been its continued impact up to this very day and beyond? These are the questions that the film poses.

Germany, Thailand 2018, 103 min
by Thunska Pansittivorakul, Harit Srikhao

"Ruling the country is for soldiers, not civilians", is a recurring sentiment in this documentary that gets its title from German-Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin: nationalist ideologies always develop in 'empty time', in places where people share a 'homogeneous consciousness'. Based on this idea, the film observes the causes of rising nationalism in Thailand without comment. Various groups are observed, from military cadets to Buddhists, Muslims and the pupils of a Christian boarding school. Their opinions vary wildly on many subjects, but what unites them is boundless confidence in the monarchy. Documentary makers Thunska Pansittivorakul and Harit Srikhao shot Homogeneous, Empty Time between the 2014 military coup and the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in October 2016, as the military leaders consolidated their grip on society and countless political opponents were imprisoned. (IFF Rotterdam)