This poll is also inspired by some recent news, such as the news about Angelina Jolie:
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/02/11/thai-govt-upset-over-angelina-jolie-comment-on-refugees/
Since there are many great films about immigrants, I find it very hard to choose only 20 films for this poll. So I decided to choose only “one film from each country” for this poll.
THESE FILMS ARE ABOUT IMMIGRANTS. WHICH FILMS DO YOU LIKE?
1.ANANSI (2002, Fritz Baumann, Germany)
2.THE BALL OF WOOL (2005, Fatma Zohra Zamoum, France)
3.BALSEROS (2002, Carlos Bosch + Josep M Domenech, Spain/Cuba/USA)
4.BEFORE THE STORM (2000, Reza Parsa, Sweden)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4154HNDYA3L._SS500_.jpg
5.THE BETRAYAL – NERAKHOON (2008, Ellen Kuras + Thavisouk Phrasavath, Laos/USA)
6.GAS ATTACK (2001, Kenneth Glenaan, UK)
7.HONGSA’S SCHOOLBAG (2008, Supamok Silarak, Thailand)
8.IMPORT/EXPORT (2007, Ulrich Seidl, Austria)
9.JAMES’ JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM (2003, Ra’anan Alexandrowicz, Israel)
10.KATZELMACHER (1969, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany)
11.ONCE YOU WERE BORN YOU CAN NO LONGER HIDE (2005, Marco Tullio Giordana, Italy)
12.NO DAYS OFF (2006, Eric Khoo, Singapore)
13.PIRATED (2000, Nguyen Tan Hoang, Vietnam/USA)
This is a gay experimental film.
14.THE PROMISE (1996, Luc Dardenne + Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Belgium)
15.SHOUF, SHOUF HABIBI! (2004, Albert ter Heerdt, Netherlands)
16.SIAO YU (1995, Sylvia Chang, Taiwan)
17.SPARE PARTS (2003, Damjan Kozole, Slovenia)
18.VILLAGE PEOPLE RADIO SHOW (2007, Amir Muhammad, Malaysia)
19.A WEDDING IN RAMALLAH (2002, Sherine Salama, Australia/Palestine/USA)
20.WE SHALL OVERCOME SOMEDAY (2004, Izutsu Kazuyuki, Japan)
You can cast multiple votes.
--Apart from HONGSA’S SCHOOLBAG, there are many interesting Thai films/TV series/play about immigrants, including:
1.ADMIT (2007, Nathapon Timmuang)
2.BLISSFULLY YOURS (2002, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
3.BURMESE MAN DANCING (2008, Nok Paksnavin)
4.GODAGARDENER (2008, Teerawat Mulvilai, stage play)
5.GOLDEN SAND HOUSE (2005, Chulayarnnon Siriphol)
6.HONG RUB KHAEK (2008, Navin Rawanchaikul)
The title of this film is interesting, because it plays on the word “khaek” which have two meanings in Thai. It can mean “guest” or “people from South Asia”, so the title of this film can mean “a room to receive guests” or “a room to receive people from South Asia”.
7.LORD LAI MUNGKORN (THROUGH THE STRIPES OF DRAGON) (TV series about Chinese immigrants)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcXvv8CJcFs
8.MOBILE MEN (2008, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIK3ctC1DP0
9.SEAPORT (2006, Attapon Pamakho + Benya Poowarachnan)
10.SHAN AT DAWN (2008, Nattachai Jaitita)
Excluding HONG RUB KHAEK and LORD LAI MUNGKORN, the rest of the things in the list above are about immigrants from Myanmar.
--IMMIGRANTS ON IMMIGRANTS
Imaginary film about immigrants in Thailand
I think it might be interesting if some filmmakers make a documentary by interviewing many descendants of Chinese immigrants in Thailand to find out how they think about the immigrants from Myanmar. Do these Thai/Chinese people think the immigrants from Myanmar should be treated similarly or differenty from the way their Chinese ancestors were treated when they arrived in Thailand about 50 years ago, and why they should be treated similarly or differently.
3 comments:
My own vote is for THE BALL OF WOOL, BEFORE THE STORM, GAS ATTACK, HONGSA’S SCHOOLBAG, KATZELMACHER, NO DAYS OFF, PIRATED, THE PROMISE, SPARE PARTS, and A WEDDING IN RAMALLAH.
my own vote including
7.HONGSA’S SCHOOLBAG / 8.IMPORT/EXPORT/
18.VILLAGE PEOPLE RADIO SHOW
IMPORT/EXPORT thrills me alot not for immigrant but for elderly people in the hospital it portray pictures of elderly that was very very thrills i thinks it 's horror scene !!!
--In IMPORT/EXPORT, I like the scene when the hero visits a rundown housing project. It shows that the people who live there live a very difficult life. When I was a little child, I always imagine Europe as a very civilized, modern place. But this film shows me that some parts of Eastern Europe are as bad as Thailand, or even worse than Thailand. Poverty (or the distribution of wealth) is really a serious problem the whole wide world.
--Because I choose IMPORT/EXPORT to represent Austria here, I regret that I can't choose I LOVE VIENNA (1991, Houchang Allahyari, Austria) to be in this list, too. I think Houchang Allahyari make interesting films about immigrants, including BORN IN ABSURDISTAN (1999).
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