Directed by Ing K, Manit Sriwanichpoom, Kraisak Choonhavan
Directed by Ing K with Manit Sriwanichpoom and Kraisak Choonhavan, what the film does succeed at doing is painting a sympathetic picture of Juling. It also gives a re-airing to forgotten incidents and aspects of the Deep South conflict, including the fatal Krue Se mosque stand-off, the massacre of the Saba Yoi soccer team, an assassination attempt on a senator and prominent community leader and a Guantanamo-like military justice system.
It's an important documentary that will hopefully go a long way towards establishing a stronger culture of documentary filmmaking in Thailand -- a place where hard questions usually go unasked and never answered, where confrontation is avoided until there is the inevitable, yet unpredictable, explosion of anger.
In the documentary, Juling is portrayed as a talented artist. A native of Chiang Rai, Thailand's northernmost province, she voluntarily headed to the country's southernmost province of Narathiwat to be a schoolteacher. She just wanted to be of service where help was most needed, her family and friends say.
In May 2006, Juling and another teacher, Sirinat Thawornsuk, were dragged from their classrooms, taken to another classroom and severly beaten. Juling took the worst of the abuse and was left in a coma, with her brain stem smashed. Sirinat suffered a much lesser degree of injuries and recovered.
The cameras visit the kindergarten classroom where the beating took place, and the floor is still caked with blood.
Kraisak meets with other politicians and community leaders to try and get a better handle on the situation in southern Thailand. One theme is that it wasn't as bad until Thaksin Shinawatra came to power in 2001 -- that before then there was no separatist struggle -- and it was the Thaksin government's heavy-handed tactics that led to a retaliatory uptick in bombings, drive-by shootings, attacks and ambushes.
http://thaifilmjournal.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html
on September 26, 2008; Asian Premiere at Bangkok International Film Festival
Why was Juling Pongkunmul abducted and severely beaten? Why has there been a resurgence of violence in the South?
These are questions that the nearly four-hour documentary Citizen Juling does not answer satisfactorily. But I think it really tries to. Anyway, I also think nobody honestly knows the answers -- not even the believers in whatever cause they are trying to serve by carrying out the violence.
Directed by Ing K with Manit Sriwanichpoom and Kraisak Choonhavan, what the film does succeed at doing is painting a sympathetic picture of Juling. It also gives a re-airing to forgotten incidents and aspects of the Deep South conflict, including the fatal Krue Se mosque stand-off, the massacre of the Saba Yoi soccer team, an assassination attempt on a senator and prominent community leader and a Guantanamo-like military justice system.
It's an important documentary that will hopefully go a long way towards establishing a stronger culture of documentary filmmaking in Thailand -- a place where hard questions usually go unasked and never answered, where confrontation is avoided until there is the inevitable, yet unpredictable, explosion of anger.In the documentary, Juling is portrayed as a talented artist. A native of Chiang Rai, Thailand's northernmost province, she voluntarily headed to the country's southernmost province of Narathiwat to be a schoolteacher. She just wanted to be of service where help was most needed, her family and friends say.
One of the early scenes is at an exhibit of Juling's works, which featured many portraits of His Majesty the King -- including the iconic "drop of sweat" picture. A devout Buddhist, she painted murals at a temple in Narathiwat, and taught art at a primary school.
In May 2006, Juling and another teacher, Sirinat Thawornsuk, were dragged from their classrooms, taken to another classroom and severly beaten. Juling took the worst of the abuse and was left in a coma, with her brain stem smashed. Sirinat suffered a much lesser degree of injuries and recovered.Recorded in 2006, Citizen Juling follows then-Senator Kraisak on a fact-finding tour of the South. With writer, artist and filmmaker Ing K directing, and artist-photographer Manit the primary cameraman, the trio stops at the hospital where Juling is in intensive care, and her parents are there. The emotions are heavy as Juling's mother points to a portrait of her broadly smiling, laughing daughter, and shows where her teeth have been kicked in and her face has been bruised.
The cameras visit the kindergarten classroom where the beating took place, and the floor is still caked with blood.
Kraisak meets with other politicians and community leaders to try and get a better handle on the situation in southern Thailand. One theme is that it wasn't as bad until Thaksin Shinawatra came to power in 2001 -- that before then there was no separatist struggle -- and it was the Thaksin government's heavy-handed tactics that led to a retaliatory uptick in bombings, drive-by shootings, attacks and ambushes.http://thaifilmjournal.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html
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