Danaya Chulphuthiphong
Friday 30.10. 18.30
Danaya Chulphuthiphong is a filmmaker and artist based in Bangkok. Working across still and moving images, her practice often navigates the intersection of social observation and experimental form. With a background as a documentary photographer, Chulphuthiphong articulates complex concepts through carefully selected tonal imagery, sound, and a keen focus on the materiality of the film medium.
Her latest work continues to explore the parallels between microscopic ecosystems and stagnant social structures through the rhythmic qualities of 16mm film. Her debut, Night Watch (2015), was widely recognized for its portrayal of post-coup Bangkok. Chulphuthiphong’s works have been exhibited internationally, including at TIFF, Toronto International Film Festival; Images Festival; International Short Film Festival Oberhausen; Singapore International Film Festival; Experimental Film and Video Festival in Seoul (EXiS); CROSSROADS, San Francisco; and Les Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin.
https://cargocollective.com/danaya/
https://vimeo.com/danaya
Microcosmic Orbit: Encased
16:46 min., 16 mm transfer to 2K, 4:3, color, 2026
A film by Danaya Chulphuthiphong
This project originates from my fascination with geological phenomena and a deep interest
in landscapes formed within enclosed ecosystems. It began with the discovery of crystalline
minerals whose internal structures resemble miniature worlds preserved inside clear quartz.
From there, my exploration expanded to natural sites: limestone sinkholes that act as time
machines, transporting us into prehistoric environments, and spring pools whose glasslike
clarity results from centuries of filtration through mineral layers.
These places and objects evoke an acute sense of enclosure: landscapes suspended in time,
unable to move, grow, or expand. This sensation resonates with my own experiences of
confinement—both personal and collective—in the social and political climate of recent
years Thailand.
I am also drawn to the recurring patterns across scales in nature. The cycles of water and
nutrient exchange inside a sealed terrarium mirror the great cycles of the Earth itself.
Neural networks in the brain resemble the veins of a leaf, the branching of rivers, and the
filaments of galaxies stretching across the cosmos. Even the human body may be seen as a
microcosm powered by its own inner spirit. Likewise, our homes, schools, workplaces, and
communities reflect the structures of larger societies.
Through this film, I wish to translate these feelings and interests into the language of
moving images—of light, sound, atmosphere, and time—creating a cinematic meditation on
the beauty and paradox of closed worlds.
Night Watch
9.30 min., HD, 16:9, color, 2015
A film by Danaya Chulphuthiphong
Watching through an ordinary night, under the “situation normal”, during the coup d’etat.
The 2014 Thai coup d’etat on May 22, which was declared after months of anti-government protests, is warm welcomed from the middle class in Bangkok; seriously reduce the right and the freedom of expression from people.
Social media such as twitter, Facebook account and websites are intervened and banned. Hundred of digital television channels, which were launched on 1 April 2014, stopped their normal programs broadcasting. Only the army logo, military songs and National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) orders were repeatedly on air.
Days after, some channels were permitted to resume their broadcasting. But with a small NCPO logo in the corner, sanctions for content critical of the coup, and self-censorship.
Even if the curfew was declared, banned public gatherings, and hundreds of people were summoned and detained by the military, news reporters repeatedly reported that we’re in the situation normal, people live their life normally and happily.
NCPO launched happiness campaign that are free concert, free world cup broadcasting, and free movie. The military leader written the song called “Return happiness to Thailand” which is repeatedly played on television, radio, and shopping malls. He also gives broadcasts across all television and radio stations every Friday in a program called “Return happiness to the People”.
Now we live happily and normally under the order that bans the criticizing of the NCPO’s operations and an interim constitution that grants power and an amnesty to the military without approval of a civilian government and public consultation.
This is the 13th coup in Thailand since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932, and it’s made Thailand being one of the world’s most coup-prone countries. The coups happen again and again. We have to start it over like an endlessly loop. SNAFU
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