Apichatpong Weerasethakul (MFA 1998, HON 2011) is an award-winning film director, producer, screenwriter, and artist whose films deal with memory, personal politics, and social issues.

He founded Kick the Machine Films in 1999, working independently of the commercial film industry in Thailand, where he lives and works. He actively promotes experimental filmmaking and is creating a network for a new generation of Thai video artists and filmmakers.

In 2002 Weerasethakul’s debut narrative film, Sud Sanaeha (Blissfully Yours) was awarded the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and in 2004, Sud Pralad (Tropical Malady) won the Prix du Jury at Cannes. His greatest acclaim at Cannes came in 2010 when he won the Palme d’Or for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

Speaking of his films to author Lawrence Chua in a 2010 interview for BOMB magazine Weerasethakul says, “Whether my films are Thai or not, I can’t say. I can only say that they are the films of Apichatpong because I’m still not comfortable with the designation. I don’t know enough to speak about Thai-ness, I don’t like the narrative of nationalism of the past five to ten years. Even if they are Thai films, the meaning has changed because the word Thai, like the words yellow or red, have also changed.”