Films We Like is pleased to announce that Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s new film Cemetery of Splendour will open in Toronto on March 11th at TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Familiar to audiences for his rapturous dreamlike films - such as Cannes Palm D’or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives (2002) - Cemetery of Splendour is set in a rural hospital where patients are being treated for a mysterious sleeping sickness. Magic, healing, romance and dreams are all part of a caregiver’s path towards deeper awareness and the world.
Soldiers with a mysterious sleeping sickness are transferred to a temporary clinic in a former school. The memory-filled space becomes a revelatory world for housewife and volunteer Jenjira, as she watches over Itt, a handsome soldier with no family visitors. Jen befriends young medium Keng who uses her psychic powers to help loved ones communicate with the comatose men. Doctors explore ways, including coloured light therapy, to ease the mens’ troubled dreams. Jen discovers Itt’s cryptic notebook of strange writings and blueprint sketches. There may be a connection between the soldiers’ enigmatic syndrome and the mythic ancient site that lies beneath the clinic. Magic, healing, romance and dreams are all part of Jen’s tender path to a deeper awareness of herself and the world around her.
APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL
Apichatpong Weerasethakul is considered one of the masters of contemporary world cinema. Trained as an architect in Thailand and as a visual artist in Chicago, he has stunned the film world with five innovative and dreamlike features including award-winning films such as Blissfully Yours, Tropical Malady, and Syndromes and a Century. He is also an acclaimed installation artist, exhibiting his work in museums and art spaces all over the world.
FILMS WE LIKE
Founded by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ron Mann (Grass, Comic Book Confidential, Altman) Films We Like is a boutique distributor of documentary, independent and international films in Canada. Recent releases include Force Majeure, Finding Vivian Maier, and the Academy Award-winner Ida.
Running time: 122 minutes
Thai with English subtitles
Media Contact: Virginia Kelly, Meghan Parnell
V Kelly & Associates
Download the press kit and high rez images