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Short Films > Haunted Houses Project Thailand  

Haunted Houses Project: Thailand
Made for Istanbul Biennial 2001
Video, 60 minutes, color

  The film’s narrative was directly scripted from two episodes of a popular Thai television, Tong Prakaisad. The series mainly deals with love and the problems of the wealthy.

   The filmmaker then traveled to the villages near his home and asked villagers to participate by acting, according to the script. All 66 villagers from six villages participated resuming roles. The story was continuous, but the actors who played the characters were constantly changed as the filming location moved from one village to another.

   Haunted Houses project deals with various forms of media addiction (soaps, lifestyles, transformation of / between cultures, etc). Thailand video is the first work of the series. Little is explored in Thailand how tremendous impact the dramas have in shaping the rural landscapes and the minds. A house is like a “medium, “ hosting a television set that transmits these hypnotizing images.

   After 8 PM, several millions of the houses in the country are “haunted.” Most of the works involve television viewers or radio listeners to participate in their own media production. The works focus on the narrative reproduction, exploitation, and impersonation. The project will be realized in various techniques in various countries.