SPECIFICATIONS

English Title : Railway Sleepers
Original Title: Mon Rot Fai

Running Time: 102 minutes
Genre: Documentary

Country: Thailand
Language: Thai
Subtitles: English
Audio: 5.1
Screening Format: DCP
Year: 2016


CAST & CREW

 

Director: Sompot Chidgasornpongse

Producer: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

 

Featuring: Francois Langello

Assistant Director: Phim Umari

Production Manager: Panu Trivej, Kissada Kamyoung

Post Production Supervisor: Lee Chatametikool

Post Production Producer: Sinjai Piraisangjun, Noorahaya Lahtee

Senior Colorist: Passakorn Yaisiri

Colorist: Chaitawat Thrisansri

Assistant Digital Conform: Sorawich Khunpinij

DCP Mastering: Thitiwat Khajorn, Sorawich Khunpinij

Sound Mixer: Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr

Sound Editor: Chalermrat Kaweewattana

With the support of: AND | Asian Cinema Fund, South Korea & Ministry of Culture, Thailand

SYNOPSIS

 

'Railway Sleepers' explores the close connection between Thai people and Thai railway, a celebration and record of what it is like to live in Thailand today. Through various activities and scenes inside and outside the moving vehicles, the film turns the train into the microcosm of life in Thailand during this changing time.

 

With mundane talk, onboard walks, outward gazes, exchanged glances, sitting, and sleeping, the film takes the audience to experience a 2-day-2-night trip from the north to the south. As the vehicle’s rhythm synchronizes with the mechanism of a movie camera, the long history of the Thai train is encapsulated in this moving entity, while we become passengers of light.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

 

Thailand was introduced to trains in 1890 during the reign of King Rama the 5th. It was once the sign of modernity. However, the Thai train failed to improve for many decades. From the colonial era on, it became a vehicle frozen in time.

 

Trains have always been my favorite form of transportation. To me, it is a mobile replica of life itself. It brings strangers together. We cross paths as we move ahead in similar directions but with different destinations. The train is also embedded with a history that reflects the development of my country. 'Railway Sleepers' invites the audience to take a journey along the edge of modernity and nostalgia.