In conjunction with Apichatpong Weerasethakul's UC Berkeley campus residency, two prominent scholars of the artist discuss his cinematic treatment of desire, relationality, and other compelling interpersonal themes. Born in Bangkok in 1970, Weerasethakul lives and works in Chiangmai, Thailand. His films have won widespread acclaim and numerous awards, including the 2010 Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, and the 2004 Cannes Jury Prize for Tropical Malady.

Arnika Fuhrmann (Cornell University) is a scholar of Thai film, literature, and culture. Her work approaches the study of Southeast Asia through a focus on affect, gender, urban studies, and media theory, and is anchored in cultural, linguistic, and historical knowledge of the region. She is the author of Ghostly Desires: Queer Sexuality and Vernacular Buddhism in Contemporary Thai Cinema (Duke, 2016) and Teardrops of Time: Buddhist Aesthetics in the Poetry of Angkarn Kallayanapong (SUNY, 2020). She presents a paper entitled “Karma, Kinship, and Queerness in Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Work.”

Jean Ma (Stanford University) holds positions in the departments of art & art history and film & media studies, and serves as director of the Stanford Arts Institute. Her most recent book, At the Edges of Sleep: Moving Images and Somnolent Spectators (UC Press, 2022), considers sleep in film and moving image art as both a subject matter to explore onscreen and a state to induce in the audience. She presents a paper entitled “The Sleeper and the Lover: Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Expanded Fields of Intimacy.”

The event is moderated by Pheng Cheah (Rhetoric).