To celebrate Pride Month, the Thai Film Archive (TFA) is inviting movie fans to revisit the history of gender diversity in local movies with the "Over The Rainbow" exhibit.
From Wednesday until Oct 8, "Over The Rainbow" will take audiences back in time to the origin of gender diversity in Thai movies, through historical information, photos, posters and rare movie clips which will be displayed on the 2nd floor, Sappasart Supakit Building, Thai Film Archive, Salaya. Admission is free.
"The idea for the exhibit began from an assumption that many Thai moviegoers believe the first Thai movie depicting gays, katoeys or tomboys was director Pisan Akaraseranee's The Last Song [1985] because it is one of the most successful movies of that era. It even had a hit soundtrack, so people remember the movie. However, according to actual data, the portrayal of gender fluidity or a transgender character existed decades before that," said Sanchai Chotirosseranee, deputy director of the TFA.
"During the Covid-19 outbreak, one of my Indonesian friends persuaded me to write an academic article about the history of Thai cinema. I thought it would be interesting if I could study and write about the history of queer movies in Thailand from before The Last Song. That article was expanded to organise this exhibit because I believe that exhibitions are more accessible to people. If it's just an academic article, it will only circulate in the academic circle."
"Over The Rainbow" is split into a few different sections. At the entrance is a poster of The Last Song as the starting point, before people walk on to find more information about older movies, whether it be posters or newspaper and magazine advertisements the TFA has collected over the years.
Some interesting films covered include Trick Cinematograph, an experimental film from 1927 shot by HRH Purachatra Jayakara, Prince of Kamphaengphet, who used a cinematic technique to swap male actors' heads on women's bodies and women's heads on men's bodies. The first recorded image of a transgender is actually in the 1954 short film Katoey Pen Het (Because Of A Katoey), which is now registered as a National Film Heritage.
There are other movies too which are not outwardly queer such as 1956's Sedthee Anatha (A Tragic Millionaire) featuring the main protagonist going to a gay bar, Chua Fah Din Salai (Forever Yours) from 1955 with an appearance of the late comedian Lor Tok in a woman's dress for comic effect, or Wiwa Pa Fun (Dreamy Wedding) with veteran actress Juree Ohsiri in a tomboy role. In addition, the exhibition also has a photo spot with beautiful backdrops and a "Rainbow Over You" activity that allows everyone to paint rainbow colours on their body to take pictures.
For a long time, Thailand has been one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world with a lot of LGBTI characters appearing quite frequently in television and cinema. However, most LGBTI in films of the past were based on stereotypes and gender conventions.
"The exhibition serves as a medium to take audiences back to explore the way Thais thought of gender diversity in the early days of cinema. These characters were created mostly for the amusement of audiences and queer characters were used as a selling point," explained Sanchai.
"For example, these characters were created to be the protagonist's best friend who does something silly or to laugh at. And then there were female characters who were confused about their identity until one day they meet the male protagonist and realise they actually like men. There were also queer characters of various genders acting as villains who usually do inappropriate things like sexually harassing others. These characters were often labelled as a certain type of people whose behaviour should be corrected."
From then until now, Sanchai has seen the development of Thai cinema and views on queer characters change. He believes people's views today inevitably affect the script and content in movies.
"Movies are a medium that reflect the beliefs of people of each era. Today, with the arrival of social media, #MeToo and gender equality, if there's any film with negative thoughts about the LGBTI community, I'm sure there will be a lot of protests. Things have changed a lot," he pointed out.
"In the modern era, I believe we have to thank movies like Love Of Siam [2007] by director Chookiat Sakveerakul, or Insects In The Backyard [2010] by Tanwarin Sukkhapisit which both received critical acclaim and were financially successful. They can be considered great examples of the first Thai films that examine LGBTI characters more in-depth and show the characters more respect and understanding."
In addition to "Over The Rainbow", the TFA is also hosting the Thai Queer Cinema Odyssey film programme, which showcases the journey of Thai queer films, from mainstream to indie, and even some foreign titles that present gender diversity, throughout June and July.
"Every movie we have selected for Thai Queer Cinema Odyssey is intended to allow viewers to see the journey of Thai cinema from perspectives and thoughts to presentations of Thais towards LGBTI characters over different eras, whether it be positive or negative," he said.
"The Thai Film Archive did not intend to create an exhibit or organise a programme with the aim to change people's minds towards the LGBTI community because we are not activists. We only intend to portray the reality of Thai society in different eras through our selection."
For more information on the exhibition or the movie screening programme as well as seat reservation, call 02-482-2013 or visit fapot.or.th.
