Showing 1 - 10 of 10
The infinite anomaly
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 26/12/2025
» Genki Kawamura returned this year with his second feature film Exit 8. His debut, A Hundred Flowers (2022), follows Yuriko, an ageing piano teacher, who unravels in the grip of dementia and her son, Izumi, who comes to term with losing her again. While Yuriko's mind is fading, her son's memories are vivid. In particular, her disappearance still haunts him.
The faces of hardship
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 21/10/2025
» In Sai Mhok, the number of those diagnosed with depression was below average until 2023, when it experienced an unprecedented spike as the village saw the presence of psychiatrists for the first time.
Rebirth in exile
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 30/06/2025
» On a poster, Phnom Penh glows dimly from afar. Flickering on the other side of the Mekong River, rows of buildings dissolve, blending with water and sky in the blue hour of twilight. This photo and a whisper are an invitation to stargaze the city glimmering in the distance.
Fractured bonds
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 28/04/2025
» Neo Sora's debut feature film Happyend envisions a dystopian near-future Tokyo under threat of an earthquake, which forms the backdrop of youth rebellion against authoritarianism. As it is followed by aftershocks that fracture personal relationships, Happyend is an ode to friends drifting apart at the mercy of larger forces, but still in the same universe.
Tales of queer migration
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 19/06/2023
» There is a border that defines the contour of his identity. Only by crossing it can Jaokhun Promchana be the man he wants to be. After moving to the US, he studied a new language and toiled in the kitchen. Holding a dream close to his heart, he went the extra mile to join the US Navy and police. Currently, he is running a restaurant with his wife. From the outside, he looks no different from other men, but in his expired documents, a name and its title are a reminder of the former self that he already shed.
Songs for life as it's no longer lived
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 17/04/2023
» Ad Carabao's new song Prachathipatung revives the myth of vote-buying and ignorance in rural society. The title is a coinage blending prachathipatai (democracy) and tung (money). On the track, parents ask children to return to their home village to vote for local politicians who give them money. It puts into song from the political discourse of an urban middle class that expresses disdain for villagers along with antipathy for one type of money politics as well as full-fledged democracy.
Will AI replace artists?
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 05/12/2022
» What were you doing at 25? The quarter-life edition of the Singapore Writers Festival has opened up an opportunity for artists to reflect on their creative life. When the question came up in our conversation, two of them laughed (I am still 25!). In those days, Oniatta Effendi taught drama, while Chow Teck Seng taught Chinese literature. It was not until recently they quit.
Hanging by a thread
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 13/04/2021
» For Korn, the coronavirus outbreak has heightened loneliness. He feels trapped in his cave-like apartment in Samut Prakan where he has been living and working, with his depression still lingering after a painful break-up three years ago. Songkran is the only time of year he visits his family in the Thon Buri district of Bangkok. They are not close but at least the thought gives him a sense of belonging. Moreover, Songkran allowed him to join boisterous pool parties and water fights and "free his spirit".
Tourists back govt but also extend stays
News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 29/01/2020
» Chinese tourists in Thailand have expressed confidence in their government's attempt to curb the coronavirus outbreak by sealing off Wuhan.
Seoul can help to regulate Mekong's flow
News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 29/10/2019
» In 2017, South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced the "New Southern Policy", which is aimed at deepening relations with Southeast Asia to the extent that four other major powers -- the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- have done.