云雀之国 Cloud Cuckoo Country

Thai politics and history come under examination in director Aim-ei POLPITAK’s debut film as she sets up a meeting between two former lovers with different political views, a conservative woman (Nantanat THAKUDKUL) who is soon to be married to a man in a month, and her ex-lover, a radical progressive lesbian journalist (Chayatanus SARADATTA). As the two get reacquainted, we hear opposing political views and understand why they broke up as tempers flare and they clash. Ultimately, the conservative confronts a long-denied truth about her beliefs in society, democracy, royalty, the changes in her country but whether she chooses to act on it is another thing.

Could you love someone with different politics to you? While the text of this film is particularly rich with the history of Thailand, the depiction of how political polarisation separates people is a universal one for our ever-divided world.