Catherine Shoard 

Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Phantoms of Nabua

This year's Cannes Palme d'Or prize winner, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, isn't just a film-maker – he's also an artist. Currently running at the BFI Gallery is Phantoms of Nabua, Apichatpong's deceptively dreamy photographic portrait of a town in north east Thailand
  
  


Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Phantoms of Nabua
Born in born in Bangkok in 1970, Apichatpong won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2010 for his film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives. His 2004 film, Tropical Malady, won the Jury prize, while 2002's Blissfully Yours won the top gong in the Un Certain Regard sidebar
Photograph: PR Photograph: guardian.co.uk
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Phantoms of Nabua
His video installations and other works have attracted acclaim, too, as did the installation Primitive when it was presented in Munich, Liverpool and Paris last year
Photograph: PR Photograph: guardian.co.uk
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Phantoms of Nabua
Apichatpong describes the exhibition, titled Phantoms of Nabua, as 'a portrait of home … a communication of lights, the lights that exude on the one hand the comfort of home and, on the other, of destruction'
Photograph: Chaisiri Jiwarangsan © Kick the Machine Films, image courtesy of Animate Projects Photograph: guardian.co.uk
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Phantoms of Nabua
In the stills, teenagers play football at night illuminated by a rear projection of lightning and fireworks and a recreation of a fluorescent light pole from the artist's hometown
Photograph: Chaisiri Jiwarangsan © Kick the Machine Films, image courtesy of Animate Projects Photograph: guardian.co.uk
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Phantoms of Nabua
These lights convey the impression of ghostliness, but, for Weerasethakul, they also conjure up a feeling of homeliness
Photograph: Chaisiri Jiwarangsan © Kick the Machine Films, image courtesy of Animate Projects Photograph: guardian.co.uk
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Phantoms of Nabua
Nabua looks to be a sleepy village, a place of football and fun, but the atmosphere masks a history of violent clashes
Photograph: Chaisiri Jiwarangsan © Kick the Machine Films, image courtesy of Animate Projects Photograph: guardian.co.uk
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Phantoms of Nabua
From the 1960s to the 1980s the totalitarian government militia occupied this part of Thailand in order to curb communist insurgents
Photograph: Chaisiri Jiwarangsan © Kick the Machine Films, image courtesy of Animate Projects Photograph: guardian.co.uk
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Phantoms of Nabua
Shooting these teenage descendents of the Thai rebel-farmers is Weerasethakul's reflection on catastrophic political events. The flames and the drama of twilight football take on a new danger when seen in this light
Photograph: Chaisiri Jiwarangsan © Kick the Machine Films, image courtesy of Animate Projects Photograph: guardian.co.uk
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Phantoms of Nabua
There's something both primal and threatening about the images, the uncertain motives of the people involved, and the barely-controlled infernos
Photograph: Chaisiri Jiwarangsan © Kick the Machine Films, image courtesy of Animate Projects Photograph: guardian.co.uk
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Phantoms of Nabua
Primitive is a multi-platform project that includes Weerasethakul's seven screen installation, an artist's book, a short film and a feature film. It runs at the BFI Southbank until 3 July
Photograph: PR Photograph: guardian.co.uk
 

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