Thank you for Communing with us!
All photography by Vinai Dithajohn (unless credited otherwise.)
“Hope from solidarity through film.”
(In-Person Participant)
“It was a new, inspiring experience that helped me understand a new point of view on cinema. I met inspiring, open minded people, who sparked hope for building community.” (Gathering Participant)
“Mind blowing cinema, challenging and excellent discussion!” (Online Participant)
“The best cinema event I have ever attended!”
(In-Person Participant)
“The warmth of the organisers and the participants was more than I could have hoped for. It had such a collaborative atmosphere, such kindness and care, while not avoiding difficult subjects. ”
(In-Person Fellow)
To Commune Seminar Participants at the Thai Film Archive, June 2024
The 69th Flaherty Film Seminar brought over 900 of us into communion: 220 people gathered at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Thailand for To Commune. 215 more gathered online, and another 465 or more took part in informal gatherings in 44 locations worldwide.
We were astonished at how powerfully we experienced cinema as a physical, bodily, and ecstatic group experience. Warmed by the kindness and capaciousness of our hosts and team, we were able to take risks, be candid, curious, playful, and speak our hearts and minds.
Thank you to our indomitable programmers, May Adadol Ingawanij and Julian Ross, for the deeply felt program; thank you to our hosts and partners at the Thai Film Archive; and thank you to each and every Guest Artist who attended –
Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook
Chikako Yamashiro
Ho Tzu Nyen
Jumana Manna
Korakrit Arunanondchai
Paijong Laisakul & Isan Film Group
Riar Rizaldi
Saeed Taji Farouky
Sriwhana Spong
– for the worlds you shared with us, for shaking and reshaping our own inner worlds. Thank you as well to featured artists Kore-eda Hirokazu, Lawan Jirasuradej*, Mohammad Malas, Ousmane Sembène & Thierno Faty Sow and Thamrong Rujanaphand and Sasithorn Ariyavicha* for the archival works that transcended time.
To Commune Film Programs and
Artist List is now online
Saeed Taji Farouky, Jumana Manna & Riar Rizaldi in conversation at the Thai Film Archive following Programs 3 & 4. June 28 2024.
Stills from :
Korakrit Arunanondchai, No history in a room filled with people with funny names 5. Courtesy of the artist.
Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Village and Elsewhere: Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Beheading Holofernes, Jeff Koons’s Untitled and Thai Villagers. Courtesy of Ekarach Prangchaikul.
Chikako Yamashiro, Your Voice Came Out Through My Throat screening at the Thai Film Archive.
Sriwhana Spong, a hook but no fish. Courtesy of the artist.
To Commune in your Communities
We hope that To Commune will long continue to reverberate as a shared resource!
The Flaherty invites educators, programmers, and cultural workers & organisers to share these programs widely. We are happy to facilitate connections to seminar artists and programmers. Please note The Flaherty will only support screenings that in turn support the artists and/or programmers (screening fees, speaking fees, travel).
Please email seminar@theflaherty.org if you would like to organize a To Commune screening and discussion.
The 2024 In-Person Fellows in conversation with Riar Rizaldi. June 27 2024.
ขอบคุณมาก | thank you!
The Thai Film Archive and Flaherty teams at the Thai Film Archive, July 2 2024.
A tremendous ขอบคุณค่ะ / thank you to the phenomenal Thai Film Archive team, lead by Chalida Uabumrungjit, Kong Rithdee, Sanchai Chotirosseranee. Thank you for such a generative partnership, and for hosting us with such generosity. The facilities of the Thai Film Archive provided a setting that enlightened us all: bringing us higher, and deeper, into communing with cinema and one another.
Thank you to the stalwart spirits of our brilliant production team – Juan Pedro Agurcia, Sheetal Prajapati, Kissada Kamyoung, Prima Sirivasuntra, Siriwimol (Por) Boonpitak, Anisa Hosseinnezhad, Jules Rosskam, Anne De Mare, Zile Liepins, and Eynar Pineda, as well as the masterful technical team at TFA for creating such a solid infrastructure for us to play in. Deep gratitude as well to our photographer Vinai Dithajohn for capturing much of our experience with his lens.
Thank you to our guest facilitators: Amal Khalaf, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Anuj Maholtra, Bo Wang, Dessane Lopez Cassell, Graiwoot Chulphongsathorn, Jemma Desai, Komtouch Napattaloong, Kong Rithdee, Lawan Jirasuradej, Pablo de Ocampo, Philippa Lovatt, Toby Wu, Zakariya Amataya, and Zoe Butt.
Thank you to our online experience partner, UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art, all our Gathering Hosts and venues at 44 locations worldwide. And thank you to our generous Fellowship partners, aonline and in-person To Commune Fellows, who joined us from 12 countries around the world, and contributed generously to the Seminar this year.
Community News
The Flaherty’s role is as a nexus of connections during — and beyond — the seminar. If you have news or projects you would like to share with our wider community, please let us know!
The Film Comment Podcast: Flaherty Film Seminar 2024
Our inaugural Patricia Zimmermann Memorial Fellowship recipient Devika Girish speaks with seminar programmers Julian Ross and May Adadol Ingawanij—as well as Thai Film Archive deputy director Kong Rithdee and Thai filmmaker Anocha Suwichakornpong—to discuss the making of this year’s seminar. Their engaging conversation charts how the works of featured artists—Jumana Manna, Chikako Yamashiro, Riar Rizaldi, Ho Tzu Nyen, Saeed Taji Farouky, Korakrit Arunanondchai, and more—elucidate overarching themes of solidarity and communion.
LISTEN
Thank you to all who contributed and communed and thank you to our many Seminar and
Fellowship partners for this exceptional event possible:
