Documentary filmmaker Nontawat Numbenchapol has a knack for exploring the voices and fragility of young people -- in different places and societal contexts.
His short film in the mid-2000s follows skateboarders' routines. In his 2013 doc Fa Tum Pan Din Soong (Boundary), he followed a young soldier to his home near the Thai-Cambodian border to explore the politics and local dispute. His other work Sai Nam Tid Shuer (By The River) delved into the lives of Karen villages suffering from lead contamination in Lower Klity, Kanchanaburi province.
His latest film #BKKY, which opens today in limited cinemas, carves out time and space to gain insights into the lives of teenagers -- 100 Bangkok adolescents, to be exact, whose lives are intertwined in a fact-fiction hybrid.
"I grew up in Bangkok. So, this is my chance to explore what Bangkok youths are up to these days in a place that I also grew up in. An update on Bangkok lives, and what their hopes, dreams, love, family and study are about right now," said Nontawat, 34.
For this project, the director interviewed 100 young adults aged 17-21 who live in Bangkok. This footage appears -n the docu-fiction, talking-head-style.
"It's one period in anybody's life where many changes occur. And mine, too. I'd call it the coming-of-age period."
Following the interviews, Nontawat weaved the teen stories into one single thread that is later shot as a feature film. "A fiction film based on a documentary," that's how he puts it. He also chose four of the teenagers he interviewed to appear as characters in the film.
"They've never had any experiences in acting. And I was also very new at giving acting directions. We ended up learning and growing together in this project," Nontawat said. He added that, for documentary filming, he would normally leave the camera rolling, capturing the situation that plays out naturally. #BKKY marks his first try at directing cast members.
The main plot of #BKKY revolves around the life of Ploiyukhon "Jo" Rojanakatanyoo (who plays Jojo in the film), a high-school girl who finds herself growing closer to Q (another newcomer Anongnart Yusananda), her female friend. However, the relationship is in jeopardy when Jojo meets another boy.
Parts of the film are inspired by Ploiyukhon's real-life experiences, as Nontawat based some of the story elements -- both dialogue and situations -- from the diary she kept back in high school.
"There was no preparation. No acting workshop to go to. It was an experimental project, really," recalled Ploiyukhon, now 21, who will soon start her fourth year at university. #BKKY was shot in early 2015.
"It was easy in a way because the character I played was actually myself, like 80-90% of her was me," she said. "Not much briefing was needed because I've experienced those things before. I knew how it felt in that particular moment. But, of course, some acting was required when things veered outside my own story. Like Q, my girlfriend in the film. She wasn't in my life."
Gender identity, as well as fluidity, is one topic that is heavily featured in the film. Nontawat revealed that it was something many of his young subjects discussed during the interview. Ploiyukhon, too, said she's dated a girl before.
Director Nontawat Numbenchapol. Nontawat Numbenchapol
"About 70% of the kids we talked to are gender fluid, as in they've had romantic encounters with both male and female," said the director. "There is a great diversity in the gender spectrum, and the kids are actually quite open. It's not just yin and yang, not just black and white, or just men and women anymore. The things that were once set in stone are changing. And our world, in fact, changes all the time."
#BKKY had a world premiere in Busan last October, and it was well received by critics and audiences alike. The film also won the Jury Prize at the Lesbisch Schwule Filmtage Hamburg (or the International Queer Film Festival), held in Germany.
As an avid observer on the lives of teenagers, Nontawat said he is mostly fascinated by the characteristics and differences that are distinctive to each generation.
"With mine, there was no internet. We only learnt things from TV and our parents. But in this generation, kids have information on demand. They have Netflix and YouTube. There is a great diversity in thoughts. There are so many choices for them, and so the kids can be highly independent and free-spirited as their world is wider, so to speak.
"I go into areas I've never been to -- places with different contexts. Lives are different between those who live in the city and those who live near the country's border. Even different areas in Bangkok are different," he said. "Space has a big role at shaping a person."
Ploiyukhon, as one voice of today's adolescents, agrees that teenagers these days can be very independent and free in their way of thinking.
"But is that a double-edged sword?" she asked. "The more the space is open, the more the confusion grows. We have more options and it's difficult to make a choice. Whatever we want to know, we can look into it right away online. There are both pros and cons with that."
Since he has concluded his work for #BKKY, Nontawat has been exploring the life of other youths for his new project. This time, he finds himself in the Thai-Myanmar border in the North, delving into the lives of minorities living in a buffer state, as well as child soldiers. This new project is sure to be yet another controversial and daring piece by this imaginative director.
"Some people have asked why I make documentaries," said Nontawat. "Is it helping society in any way? I'd say that, as a documentary maker, I begin with a topic I'm curious about -- something I wish to find an answer for. And once it is done, I hope my audience are able to get this curiosity and understand something new, too."
