Apichatpong Weerasethakul Sourcebook

Offering a fresh perspective on the work of internationally acclaimed filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul (born 1970), the Apitchapong Weerasethakul Sourcebook moves between scientific documents and personal documentary, interviews and epistolary dialogue, the cinematic and the poetic. In its multimodal approach the Sourcebook reflects Weerasethakul's artistic practice in which he portrays the everyday alongside supernatural elements while suggesting a distortion between fact and folklore, history and storytelling. Weerasethakul's personal writings and interviews, much of which is translated here for the first time, draw out his deep commitment to stories often excluded in history in and out of Thailand: voices of the poor and the ill, marginalized beings and those silenced and censored for personal and political reasons. The Sourcebook includes materials on such topics as implanted memories in mice, caves in Laos left over from the Indochina wars, new methods for listening underwater and meditations on light and darkness, plus interviews between Weerasethakul and leading art historians as well as texts drawn from his personal library. The Sourcebook invites readers into Weerasethakul's intimate exploration of his influences--in his words, "like [a] stream of consciousness, suffocated by the data."

Exploring the ways in which sustainable development is being used by an emerging group of artists who combine fresh aesthetic sensibilities with constructively critical approaches to the production, dissemination, and display of their art, this book considers environmental issues in the context of art and design.

Buddhism Goes to the Movies: Introduction to Buddhist Thought and Practice explains the basics of Buddhist philosophy and practice through a number of dramatic films from around the world. This book introduces readers in a dynamic way to the major traditions of Buddhism: the Theravāda, and various interrelated Mahāyāna divisions including Zen, Pure Land and Tantric Buddhism. Students can use Ronald Green’s book to gain insights into classic Buddhist themes, including Buddhist awakening, the importance of the theory of dependent origination, the notion of no-self, and Buddhist ideas about life, death and why we are here. Contemporary developments are also explored, including the Socially Engaged Buddhism demonstrated by such figures as the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other Buddhist activists. Finally, comparisons between filmic expressions of Buddhism and more traditional artistic expressions of Buddhism—such as mandala drawings—are also drawn. An important addition to any introduction to Buddhist philosophy and practice, Buddhism Goes to the Movies is an excellent way to bring Buddhist thought, history, and activity to the uninitiated and interested reader.

The Ocean after Nature examines the ocean as a site reflecting ecological, political and economic realities through the work of more than 20 artists and collectives, including Ursula Biemann, Drexciya, Renée Green, Peter Hutton, An-My Lê, The Otolith Group and Ulrike Ottinger.

Working outside the strict confines of the Thai film studio system, renowned Thai film director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (born 1970) has directed several acclaimed features and dozens of short films, including Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, winner of the prestigious 2010 Palme d'Or prize at Cannes; Tropical Malady, winner of a 2004 Cannes jury prize; and Syndromes and a Century, which premiered at the 63rd Venice Film Festival. Themes in Weerasethakul's films include dreams, nature, sexuality and Western perceptions of Thailand and Asia; the director also shows a preference for unconventional narrative structures, like placing titles/credits at the middle of a film, and for working with those who have no previous experience of acting. For Tomorrow For Tonight features new work exploring the theme of night through video, photographs and installation.

The proposal of this second volume of Leituras is to address the debate on the global South from other models of constructing reality and to speculate on the potential impact of alternative forms of organization on current times. To this end, it compiles a series of non-Western cosmologies which, while not new, present renewed interest and originality for their reduced visibility. Such forms of organization condense a more integrated kind of involvement of the individual with the collective, but also with his symbolic and natural environment; therefore, they have a direct impact on how reality is understood and constructed. This e-book features images that are best viewed on tablets.

Best known for his Palme d'Or prize-winning film, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (born 1970) is a Thai filmmaker and video artist. Photophobia captures his creative process as he prepares his new film, Cemetery of Kings.

The Films of Kore-eda Hirokazu: An Elemental Cinema draws readers into the first 13 feature films and 5 of the documentaries of award-winning Japanese film director Kore-eda Hirokazu. With his recent top prize at the Cannes Film Festival for Shoplifters, Kore-eda is arguably Japan’s greatest living director with an international viewership. He approaches difficult subjects (child abandonment, suicide, marginality) with a realistic and compassionate eye.The lyrical tone of the writing of Japanese film scholar Linda C. Ehrlich perfectly complements the understated, yet powerful, tone of the films. From An Elemental Cinema, readers will gain a special understanding of Kore-eda’s films through a novel connection to the natural elements as reflected in Japanese traditional aesthetics.An Elemental Cinema presents Kore-eda’s oeuvre as a connected whole with overarching thematic concerns, despite frequent generic experimentation. It also offers an example of how the poetics of cinema can be practiced in writing, as well as on the screen, and helps readers understand the films of this contemporary director as works of art that relate to their own lives.