A celebration of cinema

In the northernmost reaches of Thailand, the third edition of Thailand Biennale is currently unfolding and revealing a plethora of artistic wonders.

Set against the expansive and captivating landscape of Chiang Rai province, situated between the Mae Kok and Mekong rivers, this year's instalment of the art extravaganza has bestowed its blessings upon locals and visitors alike. Beyond the visual feast provided by Thai and international artists, a parallel celebration has emerged -- the Cinema For All Pavilion. This extraordinary exhibit, coupled with film screenings, has succeeded in bringing together local and international filmmakers, cinephiles and influencers. This gathering is not only a celebration of cinematic art but also an exploration of diverse cultural narratives.

The brainchild of Chanel, the Cinema For All Pavilion is a testament to the brand's unwavering commitment to the arts. In collaboration with the artistic directors of the Thailand Biennale, Gridthiya Gaweewong and Rirkrit Tiravanija, Chanel is hosting screenings of archives and emerging films from around the world. The venue for this cinematic extravaganza is Ban Maema School, where the screenings will continue until Feb 29 before moving to the Chiang Rai International Art Museum (CIAM) until April 30.

While Chanel is widely recognised as a luxury fashion brand in Thailand, its long-standing support for various art forms, particularly cinema, often flies under the radar. The Cinema For All Pavilion reaffirms Chanel's deep-rooted connection with the world of cinema -- a connection initiated by Gabrielle Chanel herself in the 1930s. Life was recently invited to take part in the celebration of the Thailand Biennale and experience open-air movie screenings at the Cinema For All Pavilion.

Right A late-night movie screening.

The festivities commenced with an exclusive cocktail party at the luxurious Pa Sak Tong House, a secluded estate of sprawling gardens, ponds and rice fields in Chiang Rai. The evening exuded an atmosphere of intimacy, with luminaries from the art world, celebrities, influencers and notable figures like Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul and British actress Tilda Swinton gracing the occasion.

The night's crescendo featured a surprise live solo performance by veteran American musician Arto Lindsay who is best known known as a musician and guitarist who pioneered the No Wave movement in the late 1970s. His punk rock band DNA featured on the influential compilation album No New York produced by Brian Eno in 1978. The live performance added an unexpected but delightful twist to the evening. Lindsay's raw, screeching guitar sounds contrasting the low-key ambiance of the cocktail night set the stage for the avant-garde and experimental film selections that awaited the audience at the Cinema For All Pavilion the next day.

The Cinema For All Pavilion unfolded at Ban Maema, an abandoned school in Chiang Saen district. Built in 1960, the school, once a primary educational institution under the Chiang Rai Primary Educational Service Area Office experienced a decline in enrolment. As a result, it was merged with another school in 2007. Now repurposed as the venue for the Cinema For All Pavilion, Ban Maema has transformed its old classrooms into intimate movie screening spaces. Additionally, an exhibit room hosted director Apichatpong's experimental short film -- a reinterpretation of his childhood favourite Thai horror flick Hollow-Eyed Ghost (1981).

The screening of Hollow-Eyed Ghost.

Apichatpong shared insights into his creative process: "It's the story of a murderous taxi driver who gouged out a passenger's eye and gave it to his blind wife. And one victim whose eyes were gouged out in death became a haunted ghost and wanted to reclaim his eyes. For this exhibition, I took a couple of scenes or fragments of my memory about the movie and re-shot them in my style. Then we projected the film through a glass wall to experiment with light and colour."

The final movie screening unfolded at the schoolyard outside where there was a giant double-sided inflatable screen capable of projecting two different movies simultaneously.

Before the double movie screening (1972 Cambodian horror The Snake King's Wife and 1926 Japanese drama A Page of Madness) commenced, curator Josh Siegel, from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, took the stage alongside Apichatpong and Tilda Swinton. Together, they expressed their sentiments about participating in this celebration.

Siegel highlighted the unique setting and the warmth of the people, emphasising the artists' deep connection to the region. Swinton, adding her perspective, playfully tweaked the project's title, saying: "Now it's not just Cinema For All, but the cinema is ours. It's already ours! When we are children, it feels like cinema is somewhere we go to. But I also want to suggest that cinema comes to us. I mean, cinema has come to this field tonight. I think this is another galvanised aspect of post-pandemic cinema."

As Siegel reflected on the collaborative nature of the project, he drew parallels to his experience at the MoMA. He emphasised the power of creative thinking when working with a diverse team and the possibilities that emerge when visionaries come together.

Apaichatpong Weerasethakul and Tilda Swinton join American film curator Josh Siegel for a talk.

"In fact, I'm humbled by the fact that an artist would respond in a specific way to another artist's idea. I've been a curator at MoMA for 30 years and one day there was talk about a vision where they wanted to show Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver [1976] in its entirety on a loop on the ceiling of the gallery, and my department thought it was an idiotic idea. And then it turned out that Scorsese himself thought it was a brilliant idea and he would love to do that," he said.

"And it's the reason we're doing this double outdoor screening at the Cinema For All project. If I had done this on my own, in a vacuum in my office in New York, it would not be this. I would never have had the vision to do something as creative as with our team in Thailand to make it possible."

In Swinton's words, the Cinema For All Pavilion epitomises a post-pandemic resurgence, a rekindled appreciation for the social and cultural experiences that were temporarily put on hold. As the double movie screening unfolded against the backdrop of Chiang Rai, it became evident that this cinematic celebration was not just an event but a manifestation of shared ownership and a communal embrace of an art form that brings people together, transcends boundaries and captures the essence of the Biennale spirit.

Tilda Swinton. (Photo © CHANEL)

More conversation with Tilda Swinton

Chanel has a longstanding history of fostering the arts and you've been a Chanel ambassador for many years. How has your journey with Chanel influenced your perspective on the intersection of fashion and cinema, and how do you see the role of luxury brands in supporting the arts evolving?

I am deeply impressed by and proud to be involved with Chanel's work as a cultural patron and force for good in encouraging artists, especially young artists, on their journey. Both the BFI film prize for the sustained support of original voices in cinema, now in its second year, and the phenomenal NEXT prize, which we launched in 2022 celebrates 10 new artists from all disciplines and corners of the planet this spring. They offer the kind of foundational grounding that is important for independent work these days. Chanel is visibly at the forefront and realises that a responsible global house must seek ever more inclusive ways to empower art and the artists that make it.

Your most recent film The End which will be shown for the first time this year is supported by Chanel. Can you share insights into the collaboration between Chanel and this film, and how did Chanel's support enhance the overall experience for you and your co-stars?

The relationship between Chanel and cinema started with Gabrielle Chanel herself who worked closely with groundbreaking filmmakers like Jean Cocteau and Alain Resnais to merge her vision of a practical identity for women's lives as expressed through their everyday clothes and the elevated fantasy of, for example, a complete wardrobe such as that of Delphine Seyrig in Last Year At Marienbad. In recent years, an in-house department has been established and is dedicated to finding ways to support cinema even without the involvement of Chanel in wardrobe design and its financial and technical support. This initiative is one that the house takes extremely seriously and in which, rightly, it takes a great sense of pride.

An exhibition at the Thailand Biennale.

You recently spoke to young creatives in Australia, encouraging them to pursue their artistic passions without the constraints of money or powerful connections. How does this philosophy align with Chanel's commitment to fostering creativity, and what advice would you give to emerging artists in the fashion and film industries?

Not being a great believer in advice per se, I can only ever really accurately speak about my own experience and remind emerging artists of a path towards an authentic voice that doesn't involve engaging with the constraints of budgets that demand the constant and oppressive return of meaningful profit that seems to be of particular value to a younger generation. What my fellows and I had access to in the late 80s and 90s, with the patronage of bodies like the BFI in the UK, Arte in France, ZDF in Germany, allowed us freedom from the commercial financial frameworks that might have inhibited our vision and hampered the development of our individual voices. This is not dissimilar to the kind of cushioning provided now by Chanel as it concentrates not on particular projects but the maturing of individual voices. This is the kind of support, unconditional and systematic, that fosters confidence and courage in an artist. This support allows artists to dig into their practice with abandon and impunity and feel their lives are being supported beyond rubies.