In July we hosted Apichatpong Weerasethakul, one of the all time great modern arthouse directors. A filmmaker’s filmmaker, Apichatpong won the Palme d’Or for his 2010 film Uncle Boonmee, having won prizes at Cannes for two features before that, Blissfully Yours and Tropical Malady, and has been a critical and festival favourite since his debut feature Mysterious Object at Noon.

Some warm and incisive words from the brilliant Thai director on the three finalists in July’s Film of the Month competition, below. These were three very strong films with no clear winner, as reflected by Apichatpong’s praise for each work.

Sulphur Spring by Oscar Oldershaw

Apichatpong’s favourite was Sulphur Spring, a Random Acts film by Oscar Oldershaw that follows a dance troupe interacting with an elderly man with Parkinsons. To Apichatpong, the film “is like a painting. It forms a canvas from rocks, snow, water, wind, and clouds. Humanity is an intervention that tries to blend in with nature. It breathes in the wind. It tries to survive the cold air by touching, as if the wrinkles and the memories exude the warmth.”

“I can watch this film over and over. I don’t understand it but it is just fascinating. The camera work invites us into the ritual, we are part of the alienation. The only thing I wish is that it was longer, so that there is the time for it to lend its weight onto the people inside the screen and those who watch them.”

Men Buy Sex by Alice Russell

He was no less keen on second place film, Alice Russell’s sex industry documentary Men Buy Sex. “Intriguing. I like that the film creates an evolving space for spectators. First we question the reality space, then the moral space. While we look at the women performing ‘dubbing’ the invisible men, we expect them to perform flawlessly to match the voices. It is disturbing to realise that we are part of the game. We take pleasure in the good ‘emulating’ skill of the women, that they are good ‘actors’. They have a physical presence but not their own voices.”