Apichatpong Weerasethakul (b. Thailand, 1970) has gained worldwide attention for his artistic and groundbreaking experimental films. Before his 2010 feature, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, became the first Thai film to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Weerasethakul was celebrated in 2004 as subject of a Walker Dialogue and Retrospective. This was followed in 2012 with his Walker-commissioned work Cactus River, a short film that debuted on the online Walker Channel. A maker of films and video shorts since 1994, Weerasethakul completed his first feature in 2000. Now recognized as a major international visual artist, he has also mounted exhibitions and installations in many countries since 1998. Lyrical and often fascinatingly mysterious, Weerasethakul’s film works are nonlinear, dealing with memory and in subtle ways invoking personal politics and social issues. Working independently of the Thai commercial film industry, he promotes experimental and independent filmmaking through his company, Kick the Machine Films, founded in 1999, which also produces all his films. His film Memoria (2021) screened at the Walker in June 2022.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
1970–Present