Unknown Forces

For UNKNOWN FORCES is a tribute to our land and our countrymen after the political maelstrom of 2006.

UNKNOWN FORCES is also for the hard workers and hard drinkers of the northeast, my home region, who are the crux of Thailand’s booming real estate development. These workers are hauled around by contractors from one construction site to another, roaming cities and villages. Thailand’s landscape is shaped by these nomadic souls on pickup trucks. Like many actors I know, the workers have resided in a hierarchic system for so long that they are voiceless and are assigned to be part of an apolitical species.

On many occasions I feel I am part of this pickup truck syndrome, fueled by a strange cocktail of politics, monarchy, and religion.

- Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Thailand / USA 2007

4 screen installation, various lengths, loops / Digital, 16:9, Dolby 5.1 / Colour

Director / Editor: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Cast: Sakda Kaewbuadee, Jenjira Pongpas, Nitipong Thinthupthai

Camera: Yukontorn Mingmongkon, Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Post Production Supervisor: Lee Chatametikool

Music: Cyndi Seui

Sound Designer: Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr

Art Director: Akekarat Homlaor

Assistant Director: Suchada Sirithanawuddhi

Prop Masters: Nitipong Thinthupthai, Montri Busayasiri

Continuity: Manita Niyomprasit

Production: REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater), Los Angeles

Commissioned by REDCAT with support from the Asian Cultural Council, North Star World, the James Thompson Foundation, R23, Smallroom. First presented at REDCAT, Los Angeles, 18 April – 17 June 2007