Close Up

27 September 2018: The Island Funeral

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The Island Funeral
Pimpaka Towira
2015 | 105 min | Colour | Digital
Thai with English subtitles
Introduced by Sonali Joshi

"This second feature from Thai filmmaker Pimpaka Towira, following her One Night Husband by more than a decade, is an assured road movie cowritten with film critic Kong Rithdee. The Island Funeral follows three Bangkok youths traveling to Pattani province to visit a long-lost aunt. As the cohort get farther from the capital and deeper into the militarized South, caustic banter gives way to unease within unfamiliar and menacing environs. Radio and news reports of clashes between Muslim separatists and the military are heightened by Towira’s elegant use of genre devices and a haunting score. Vivid 16mm cinematography and layered editing in create beauty from quiet moments and uncanny juxtapositions. All the while, in a style reminiscent of her countryman Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Towira’s ghost tale tells a second story of politico-religious conflict and social control in contemporary Thailand." – MOMA


Part of Aperture: Asia & Pacific Film Festival