Hard Light Cinema

🐌 Part 1/4 of our Slow Sundays series

The most celebrated of all Thai filmmakers, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, is the perfect fusion of mystery-box storytelling and arthouse “slow cinema,” and we’re excited to return to “Joe” (his nickname for Western audiences), after our April showing of Tropical Malady, with his follow-up Syndromes and a Century. Let me know if you’ve heard this one before, but it’s a bit of a love story split in the middle with two distinct halves that share features but are defined by difference. Not only is it a film based in small details and individual interactions, it’s also largely inspired by Joe’s own parents, and it’s a real treat for the full runtime leading to an ominous and thought-provoking ending. It even has a signature Weerasethakul needle-drop/dance number like the rest of his unique filmography!

Syndromes and a Century is probably the easiest “entry” to Apichatpong Weerasethakul, so don’t be afraid or intimidated by this one. Come and join us in the early afternoon at the library, let your brain rest a bit, and let the soundscape of a Weerasethakul film wash over you. Bring your friends if they’re Letterboxd users or care about Oscars/Palme d’Or or come by yourself and make new friends because if you’re willing to watch free slow cinema on a Sunday afternoon, we’d love to meet you and become your friend!

This screening will be the first of our Hard Light x RPL Slow Sundays for the Fall ‘25 semester, and we’re extremely excited for the programming to come, so join us for Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Syndromes and a Century and experience transcendental cinema at the Church of Joe. 

— Warner West, Hard Light Cinema