Memoria

Any release of a new film by the Thai director and former visiting filmmaker is a major event. But screenings of Weerasethakul’s latest, Memoria—2021 Jury Prize winner at the Cannes Film Festival—are even more noteworthy occasions. Not only due to his collaboration with Swinton, the muse of adventurous filmmakers across the globe, but because the film’s distributor has no plans to release it on streaming services or home video.

The hypnotic film features Swinton as a Scottish woman living in Colombia who’s roused at daybreak by a loud sound. The mysterious sensory syndrome that follows leads her on an increasingly disorienting quest through Bogotá and into the jungle, where she encounters ghosts (both cultural and personal) that haunt the people and landscapes along her route. Crafting his soundtrack as well as his visuals with a remarkable amount of care and detail, Weerasethakul has made a truly one-of-a-kind cinematic and sonic experience. (136 mins., 35mm)

Memoria is preceded by Apichatpong’s poetic short commissioned by the Wex for our Cinetracts ’20 project showcasing filmmakers from around the world. Captured in one day during summer 2020, the short uses shots of sleep, wind, dreams, rain, and change to capture the atmosphere in and around his home during the COVID-19 pandemic. (2 mins., digital video)