Mekong Hotel + Emerald

Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

2012 / 72min / DCP

In the northeast of Thailand, at a hotel near the flood-swollen Mekong River that marks the Laotian border, Apichatpong and his crew—including returning players Sakda Kaewbuadee and Jenjira Pongpas—hold rehearsals for a long-in-the-works project titled Ecstasy Garden. Beginning as a documentary, the improvised film then morphs into science fiction, a family drama, a ghost story, and a musical—in each new iteration retaining the same languid charm, set to the lingering melody of a visitor’s acoustic guitar. “Clearly demonstrates that real cinema can arise from simply a hotel room, some friends, a musical river, more friends, and next to no budget.”—CinemaScope

Screen's with Apichatpong's 2007 short film Emerald