un.thai.tled FILM FESTIVAL BERLIN 2020

"Thai" identity has become a kind of hyperreality. For decades, images about Thailand have been circulated and reproduced. These images have become, for many people (also for many Thais) overwhelming and internalized as a part of their identities. As these images of promiscuous women and desexualised men are normalized, the Thai people behind such stereotypes are rendered invisible. The un.thai.tled Film Festival aims to look beyond these one-dimensional, superficial representations and asks the questions: how can we critically deconstruct these reproduced stereotypes? What kind of images appear in the films of Thai filmmakers themselves? This film programme - a mixture of documentaries, poetry and fiction - will delve beyond the surface to offer different insights into Thailand. These hybrid films convey the social experience and lived social realities in Thailand and in the diaspora. 

un.thai.tled is a collective of Thai/diasporic creatives in Germany, which stands against misunderstanding, stereotypes and ignorance within the public discourses in the west and encourages socio-cultural exchanges. un.thai.tled gathers artists and creatives from Thailand or with Thai diasporic background and curates film and cultural programmes that critically untangle the stereotypes and support political engagements. 

Funded by Stiftung Nord-Süd Brücken aus Mitteln der LEZ

Sarnt Utamachote (ษาณฑ์อุตมโชติ) is a Southeast Asian nonbinary filmmaker and curator based in Berlin. They are a co-founder of the artist collective un.thai.tled and curated film events and exhibitions regarding postcolonial histories, Southeast Asian diaspora and activism. Currently they work as a selection committee member for Xposed Queer Film Festival Berlin and Short Film Festival Hamburg.

Rosalia Namsai Engchuan is an artist, filmmaker and anthropologist who is interested in ecology of knowledge, grass-root artist-led activism in Southeast Asia and issues of Thai/Asian diaspora in Germany.