The Cinematheque

“Arunanondchai is intent on provoking a transformation of today’s youth from manipulated screen dependents into a spiritually awakened and emotionally connected collectivity.”

Gilda Williams, Artforum

DIM Cinema presents a triple bill of works by Thai artist Korakrit Arunanondchai. These films, made between 2018 and 2021, highlight narratives around phenomenology, centralizing non-human animals, ghosts, and shadow histories. Natural Gods is a nature film beyond people—there are no cute creatures on view. Instead, it looks to subjectivities that do not resemble our own, imagining an expansive consciousness bigger than ego, perhaps entirely different from consciousness as we know it. In No history in a room…, ​“no history” refers to human history recorded through verbal storytelling and other forms of mythmaking, mutating over time. Ghosts, for example, occupy ​“no history” zones. The work uses the 2017 Tham Luang rescue mission to examine how the force of propaganda, spirituality, and Cold War politics can create a new myth of representation. Fire and ash are recurring motifs in Songs for Living, reminiscent of life cycles beyond physical mortality. —Tobin Gibson

In English and Thai with English subtitles

Natural Gods
USA/​Thailand 2018
Korakrit Arunanondchai
10 min. Digital

No history in a room filled with people with funny names 5
USA/​Thailand 2018
Korakrit Arunanondchai, Alex Gvojic
31 min. Digital

Songs for Living
USA/​Thailand 2021
Korakrit Arunanondchai, Alex Gvojic
21 min. Digital