Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong Weerasethakul was born in Bangkok in 1970 and grew up in Khon Kaen, in the northeast of Thailand. He graduated from Khon Kaen University with a Bachelor's degree in Architecture and a Master's degree in Film Directing from the Art Institute of Chicago.
He started making short films in film and video in 1994, and completed his first feature film in 2000. He has also participated in numerous exhibitions and made installations in many countries since 1998. Rarely linear, his work maintains a relationship with memory, evoking social and political issues in a subtle and personal way.
Working away from the Thai film industry, he is involved in the promotion of independent and experimental cinema through his company Kick The Machine Films, founded in 1999. Kick The Machine Films has participated in the production of all his feature films. In 2008, he launched the Primitive Project, a multi-media company. In 2009, he and his work were the subject of a monograph (the first in English) published by the Austrian Film Museum.
His artistic work and feature films have earned him international recognition and numerous festival awards, including three at the Cannes Film Festival. BLISSFULLY YOURS won the Prix Un Certain Regard in 2002, TROPICAL MALADY the Prix du Jury in 2004 and UNCLE BOONMEE, WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES won the Palme d'Or in 2010.
SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY was the first Thai film to be selected in competition at the Venice Film Festival in 2006, and has been recognized by many international rankings as one of the best films of the decade. Apichatpong lives and works in Chiangmai, Thailand. His next project, in preparation, is about author and filmmaker Donald Ritchie.