Registration is now open for the 69th Flaherty Film Seminar! To Commune will take place June 27–July 2, 2024 in Salaya, Thailand at the Thai Film Archive.

This year’s Seminar is programmed by May Adadol Ingawanij and Julian Ross.
Of this year’s theme, they share: “Our program seeks to explore how contemporary filmmakers and moving image artists are expanding the imaginative possibilities of communing through documentary forms. We want to highlight how filmmakers and artists, especially those connected to the Global South, are inheriting surprising legacies of historical efforts to commune. We’re intrigued by artistic explorations of communal capacities in spaces and situations such as the classroom, the ritual, the carnival, the film set, the potent site, the gathering, and the protest.”

All participants are required to register in advance of the Seminar. Registration for the 69th Film Flaherty Seminar is now open. Please visit our registration page.

The Flaherty also offers a select number of funded onsite and online Fellowships for the Seminar each year. Learn more about this year’s Fellowship program and apply.

The 69th Seminar will take place at the Thai Film Archive (TFA), located in Salaya, Thailand, about 25 km away from Bangkok. The Thai Film Archive is a cinema, archive, and education space that hosts screenings, events, and exhibitions. As a publicly-funded institution, TFA is dedicated to the education, preservation, and presentation of film and its histories, with an archive focused on collecting historical and contemporary Thai films and narratives. The TFA’s cinema spaces and gathering spaces used for the Seminar are all accessible locations for people with disabilities. 

Salaya is a small sub-district of the Phutthamonthon district, located in Nakhon Pathom province, to the west of Bangkok. Salaya maintains a serene and green small-town atmosphere and is a popular destination for tourists (mostly from Bangkok) who visit on weekends or holidays. Salaya boasts numerous tourist attractions, including chic cafes and restaurants.

The journey from Bangkok's city center to Salaya typically takes around an hour by car or taxi. However, it's important to note that during rush hours, when traffic is heavy in Bangkok, the journey may take much longer.  We encourage participants to stay in Salaya for the duration of the Seminar, for ease of transport to and from the Thai Film Archive daily.  If you choose to stay in Bangkok, you will be responsible for arranging your own transportation to Salaya and should be prepared for a daily commute of one hour or more each way. 

Please visit our Hotel and Travel page for more information.

The seminar will take place in English with onsite Thai translation for screenings and in-person discussions. 

This year, The Flaherty is offering tiered ticket pricing to accommodate both US and non-US based participants to Thailand. Rates for U.S./Canada-based participants range from $1500 - $750 USD while rates for Non-US/Canada based-participants are between $550-250 USD. The Non-U.S./Canada participant rates were developed in collaboration with the international program team from Europe and Asia for this year to ensure the Seminar was within reach for participants in a wide range of regions. This year’s U.S/Canada rates, which are significantly lower than previous years, also takes into consideration the additional cost of travel and accommodations that participants will need to incur.

Pricing for your onsite ticket depends on where you are located and traveling from, if you are receiving institutional support of some kind, and what you personally feel is the right price point for you. There will be a limited number of tickets available at each price point so we encourage you to register as soon as possible.

Online Seminar Registration is available at 100 USD.

Tickets for local attendees in Thailand will be priced and sold separately by the Thai Film Archive.

Daily screenings; Daily discussions and artist conversations; Daily snacks, coffee, and lunch during the seminar; Select evening events/dinners during the program.

The registration fee does NOT include travel to and from Thailand and this year, housing is also not included in the registration price. This is because the seminar is not being held on a college campus or a similar location with dormitory housing. Salaya is a town with multiple, affordable options, including hostel or hotel stays depending on your preferences, needs, and budget. 

Please visit our Hotel and Travel page for accommodations you can book after you register.

You are responsible for booking and covering the cost of your accommodations and travel to and from Salaya, Thailand. We encourage you to allocate some additional funds for local transportation and meals not covered by the Seminar (full breakfast, dinners on some evenings), especially if you are interested in exploring the area. 

Thai Film Archive and The Flaherty will work with local vendors to provide daily snacks, lunch, and coffee. When you register, you’ll be asked to share your dietary restrictions for catered meals and we will do our best to accommodate participants' needs as much as possible.  

The conditions for entry to Thailand depend on your citizenship. All participants coming from other countries must have a valid passport to travel. Many nationalities can visit Thailand without a visa under the Visa on Arrival rule or Visa Exemption program.

We recommend you check the official visa requirements prior to booking your travel and read more here to ensure you obtain the correct documents to travel. 

If you are traveling by plane, we recommend flying into Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) airport in Bangkok. When registration opens, The Flaherty will provide recommendations on how to arrange transport from the Bangkok airport to your accommodations in Salaya. 

If you are traveling from North America, or any time zone that has more than six hours difference from Thailand, we recommend you arrive no later than the morning of June 25 to give yourself 18-24 hours to rest and adjust to the time zone and summer climate before the Seminar begins. We recommend you depart on July 3 so you can enjoy the full program.

If you are traveling from the Southeast Asia region, you may be able to travel by train to the Salaya Train Station. Please check your local rail system to see if there are train options for your region.

Please visit our Hotel and Travel page.

The Online Experience will take place concurrently (June 26 -July 2, 2024) with the program in Thailand. The Online experience will be a mix of synchronous and asynchronous engagements for participants. Scheduled group screenings and facilitated discussions for online audiences will be organized during the Seminar dates at varying times each day to accommodate the global online audience. Additionally online experience participants will enjoy a curated list of readings and resources and have access to all Seminar films online during and after the Seminar. Registration for the Online Experience is $100 USD and includes all components of the online experience.

PLEASE NOTE: In-person discussions held in Thailand will not be streamed for the online program and some films may not be available online due to artist permissions and streaming rights.

After a successful experience with our first pods in 2023, we are continuing to experiment with the ways we can come together to watch films and build community through online and dispersed spaces. In 2024, we will continue our new tradition of ensuring access to The Flaherty with a concurrent online experience for the Seminar.

We are in conversation with previous Pod partners to gauge what might be possible for 2024 and beyond. Should we organize any additional onsite seminar-related programming in other locations after Thailand this year, we will share that later this year.  

Yes, the Flaherty offers a limited number of Seminar Fellowships for onsite and online participation.

Applications for the onsite and online 2024 Seminar Fellowships are open now and will close on March 29, 2024, at midnight EST. Learn more and apply.

If you are part of an academic or cultural institution, we encourage you to explore the possibility of having your institution cover some or all of your travel for professional development. You can contact Anisa Hosseinnezhad our Fellowship Lead at anisa@theflaherty.org  to request more information to share with your institution about the program to support funding your participation.

Ticket cancellation requests received by or before Wednesday, May 8, 2024 will be refunded minus a 20% processing fee. After this May 8 deadline there are NO refunds for cancellations. If we are required to cancel your in-person seminar registration due to a rise in COVID cases or other global events that affect your ability to travel to Thailand, The Flaherty will maintain free access to the online platform for all guests and issue reimbursements for all in-person attendees, minus a processing and handling fee of 20%. Please email us at info@theflaherty.org to request cancellation.