PHI TA KHON: Ghosts of Isan & SUMATRAN FOLK CINEMA
Friday, July 14, 2006, 8:00 pm, $5
PHI TA KHON: Ghosts of Isan(A Film by Robert Millis/Color/75 minutes)
Masks and outfits made of rice steamers, shredded rags and clanging bells transform participants of Thailand’s PHI TA KHON festival into ghosts, devils, demons, and spirits unleashed for a bacchanal. Outrageous wooden phalluses and plenty of rice whiskey heighten licentious behavior as endless addictive MO LAM–Thai country groove music–blasts from makeshift bands in the back of pickup trucks.
Meaning ‘ghosts with human eyes’ PHI TA KHON is a folk ghost-festival that takes place every year in Thailand’s Isan province and features ornate masks, strange ceremonies, dancing, khaen and vocal performances, trance drumming, electric and acoustic pin playing, and more . Filmed in Isan in June 2004 by Robert Millis and Richard Bishop.
For a sample of Phi Ta Khon: Ghosts of Isan, go here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0VyM6B_v4o
SUMATRAN FOLK CINEMA(A Film by Mark Gergis & Alan Bishop 60 minutes)
A psychedelic collage of images and sounds from the heart and soul of Sumatran culture. Witness classic Dangdut rock music, street and country scenes, Pop culture, raw TV excerpts, Minang Orchestras, night markets, folk music, and much more wrapped in a 60-minute kaleidoscope complete with an epic soundtrack. Filmed in and around Medan, Padang, Bukitinggi and beyond with some of the most amazing pre-tsunami footage ever captured from Aceh province.
Shot by Mark Gergis and Alan Bishop on location in 2004 with a segment from Bandah Aceh filmed by David Martinez in 2003.
For a sample of Sumatran Folk Cinema go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weI9CNhihTU
Mark Gergis is a member of Bay Area groups Mono Pause and Neung Phak and is also known as Porest. Robert Millis is a founding member of Climax Golden Twins. Both have curated CDs for Sublime Frequencies on Asian and other world musics. Alan Bishop heads Sublime Frequencies and is a member of the seminal Sun City Girls. www.sublimefrequencies.com