Canadian Premiere
Patiparn Boontarig’s film, set in the bright, breezy climes of southern Thailand, portrays the slowly blossoming love between two women. Shati (Ilada Pitsuwan) comes from a Muslim background, and we see her quietly chafe against the strictures of her culture. Fon (Rawipa Srisanguan) is more free-spirited, and she partakes of more worldly pleasures. What brings the two together is a love of art: Shati works at a gallery for whom Fon is preparing an exhibit. From their first meeting, the mutual attraction is clear; the suspense lies in Shati’s struggle to transcend her religious boundaries and more general inhibitions.
Mellow and serenely ingratiating, Solids by the Seashore relaxes the mind even as it puts forth a provocative, subversive agenda. The title refers to the Thai government’s attempts to fortify the seashore against rising tides—a misguided practice further tainted by corruption and responsible for soil erosion and other negative environmental outcomes. That is the theme of Fon’s art, and Boontarig embeds the social protest beautifully in his dreamy, poetic film.
New Currents Award, Busan 2023
Media Partner
Community Partner
Ilada Pitsuwan, Rawipa Srisanguan
Thailand
2023
In Thai and Southern Thai with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Koblarp Thaitun
Producer
Chatchai Chaiyon, Mai Meksawan
Screenwriter
Kalil Pitsuwan, Patiparn Boontarig
Cinematography
Benjamaporn Rattanaraungdetch
Editor
Nisarat Meechok
Original Music
Nattapon Innoo, Sart Pornmuneesoontorn, Korn Saengkiewngam, Sathapat Teeranitayapap, Apichai Tragoolpadetkrai
Art Director
Praewploy Kapkaew
Patiparn Boontarig
ปฏิภาณ บุณฑริก
Patiparn Boontarig graduated in film and photography at Thammasat University in Bangkok and has worked on a number of shorts and documentaries as director and screenwriter. He was assistant director to Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s Manta Ray (2018 Venice Film Festival) and Jakrawal Nilthamrong’s Anatomy of Time (2021 Tokyo FILMeX Grand Prize). Solids by the Seashore is his first feature film.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Fantasia
Walt Disney pushed the boundaries of animation and sound recording when he put together a movie concert: eight classical pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Stravinski et al, each animated in a different style. It's playful, sometimes cute, other times inspired.
Image: © Disney, 1940
Cutting Through Rocks
Winner of Sundance's World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize, Cutting Through Rocks follows Sara Shahverdi — motorcyclist, midwife, and first-ever councilwoman elected in her Iranian village. A vérité triumph by Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni.
The Baltimorons
An early Xmas present and the rom-com of the year: a dental emergency on Christmas Eve brings together flailing comedian Chris and cynical divorcee Didi for a series of low-key urban misadventures.
The Leading Ladies Perform Duke Ellington's The Nutcracker Suite
Join us for a unique Nutcracker experience: a live jazz rendition of Duke Ellington's take on Tchaikovsky's music, followed by the premiere of an inspiring doc about how even Covid 19 couldn't stop New York ballet's finest from staging the Xmas favourite.
