We speak with Sompot Chidgasompongse about Railway Sleepers, trains, Thailand, his collaboration with Weerasethakul and many other topics
Tell us a bit about the British you talk to at the end of the film. The dialogues seemed kind of surrealistic.
It’s getting late at night, and you start to talk about your past, about your life. But then the morning comes, and you’re not sure if you were dreaming or not. The British character was constructed from real historical figures who have worked on Thai trains since the very beginning. They are all dead by now, so I needed to re-create the character. The dialogues were also based on actual academic studies, historical research, oral-histories, diaries of many people. I wanted to create a dreamlike feeling where you cannot be sure what is real and what is not. History is also like that.
You have collaborated with Apichatpong Weerasethakul a number of times, and he is also the producer of Railway Sleepers. Tell us a bit about your years with him, and your partnership in this film.
I worked with him as an intern beginning with his ‘The Adventure of Iron Pussy’. Then I begun working as his assistant director in films like ‘Tropical Malady’, ‘Syndromes and a Century’, ‘Cemetery of Splendour’. I still work with him today. He’s been both my boss, my mentor, and my brother. And yes, he’s also the producer of ‘Railway Sleepers’ as well. He’s been very hand-off on this film artistically. He would give me comments when I showed him the rough cuts, but he always said that this is my film, not his film. He wants me to make the film I want to make.
What is the situation with the Thai film industry at the moment?
We have more independent films made by younger generations. But the industry as a whole is still lacking diversities in terms of contents and artistic explorations. Most films produced here are comedies and horrors, since they seem to be the only genres that make money. But of course, not all of them are successful. Only a handful of films each year make money. It’s hard to find bigger audiences for films that deviate themselves from the norm. So the same things are made over and over again. But I guess this happens everywhere in the world. Filmmakers in Thailand have to fight to get films made on our own without much supports.
Which are your favorite filmmakers/movies?
This is a tough question because there’re so many filmmakers and movies that I love. To name some, I would say these directors and their films. Apichatpong Weerasethakul (of course), Abbas Kiarostami, James Benning, Yasujirō Ozu, Satyajit Ray, Edward Yang, Isao Takahata, Tsai Ming-liang, Robert Beavers, Raymond Depardon, Pedro Costa, and many others.
What are your plans for the future?
I hope to keep making more documentaries, what they are about is still to be determined. Also, I’m trying to explore fiction form more. I love fiction films, and I’ve made many hybrid shorts, but I’ve never made a total fiction. I’m practicing my writing skill now.
