Citizen Juling Speaking

[BusyB]

EDITOR'S PICK 'Juling' allowed to speak

By By Wise Kwai

DAILY XPRESS

Published on August 11, 2009

 

Director Ing K overcomes|censorship fears to see the release of her first film in 10 years

 

Many Thai filmmakers worry about censorship, but perhaps none more than Ing K, who had a bad experience with her 1998 film "My Teacher Eats Biscuits", which had a screening that was raided by police. 

"Not only was it banned, I was also grilled by the parliamentary house committee on culture, arts and religious affairs," Ing says. "My life turned upside down and I didn't make another film for 10 years."

Her next effort was "Citizen Juling", a four-hour tableau of Thai politics and culture that springs from the 2006 beating of schoolteacher Juling Pongkunmul in Narathiwat province. It opens tomorrow in a limited theatrical run at House.

To make sure her film would make it past censors, Ing was cagey.

"Instead of becoming more compromising, I've made a conscious decision to be as true to whatever film I'm working on as possible; to always take it as far as it wants to go and let it be whatever it really wants to be, whatever that might mean. I suppose I feel that I should've fought harder back then instead of wimping out, and I was fully prepared to fight for 'Citizen Juling'," she says.

Censorship syndrome

Especially after the censorship of director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's internationally acclaimed art film "Syndromes and a Century", many of Ing's fellow filmmakers didn't believe that such a strongly political film would be allowed. Among the biggest sceptics were Ing's co-directors, Democrat MP Kraisak Choonhaven and Ing's husband, photographer Manit Sriwanichpoom.

"I was the only one who had any hope, because I was the editor and I made every cut, every decision, according to whether we'd be able to defend it in court," she says. "Law courts base their judgement on the filmmaker's intentions."

So it was with painstaking detail that Ing and crew decided to not have a music score. There's just a hit song about Juling, and incidental martial music that's being played in footage from the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King's accession.

"Since the film's ultimate subject is the sacred trinity of 'Nation, Religion, King', we colour nothing and make no judgements; we had to show everything and tell nothing, explain nothing," Ing says. "The censors told Manit, who went on our behalf, that they would pass the film because they could see that all three of us meant well. But they felt sorry for us because who would come to see such a long film?! It's long precisely because we have to show everything and tell nothing. So, in this way, the censors definitely influenced the way we shot and cut the film."

 NOW YOU SEE IT

>> "Citizen Juling" ("Polamaung Juling") is playing from tomorrow at House cinema on RCA.

>> It premiered at last year's Toronto International Film Festival and was also screened at the Bangkok International Film Festival and this year's Berlinale.

>> Plans to broadcast it as a television mini-series have not come through. Anyway, "the subtext is more clear when the whole film is shown in one go", says Ing.

 >> Call (02) 641 5177-8 or visit www.HouseRama.com

Strongly urge anyone with a real interest in real Thailand to get in and see this. Unfortunately I don't know if it's still got the English sub-titles (call the number), but if you speak Thai you certainly won't want to miss it.

Prepare to be moved. Brilliant!

Edited August 11, 2009 by BusyB