稻米之歌（The Songs of Rice / อุรุพงศ์ รักษาสัตย์）

The Songs of Rice（อุรุพงศ์ รักษาสัตย์）《稻米之歌》
Uruphong Raksasad 烏魯鵬·拉薩沙│2014│75min│Thailand

★2014鹿特丹影展費比西影評人獎

《稻米之歌》（The Songs of Rice）是泰國導演 Uruphong Raksasad 的最新紀錄片作品，紀錄泰國農民與稻米種植傳統的緊密連結──人們穿著鮮豔的衣服載歌載舞、騎水牛競賽、自製火箭來祈求／慶祝稻米的豐收。於今年鹿特丹影 展的首映大獲好評，並得到影展的費比西影評人獎！

「導演以強而有力的攝影美學，營造出讓人沉浸其中的感官經驗，與這群充滿生命力的農民共感作物生長的喜怒哀樂。」


這部紀錄片是由最近成立的泰國獨立電影製作公司 Mosquito Films Distribution 所監製，這家獨立電影公司旗下的導演除了本紀錄片導演 Uruphong Raksasad 以外，還有國際知名的導演阿比查邦（《波米叔叔的前世今生》）、 Aditya Assarat（《南方來信》去年金馬影展有放過）、Anocha Suwichakornpong（《Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner》）、Lee Chatametikool（《Concrete Clouds》入圍2014鹿特丹影展金老虎獎）、Pimpaka Towira （《Malaria and Mosquitoes》入圍2014鹿特丹Spectrum Shorts），以及連續兩年都邀請至金馬影展並廣受國際影展肯定的年輕導演 Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit（《瑪莉快樂真快樂》、《36》），這些中／青生代的導演為泰國電影注入了不少創作活力！

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Director’s Statement  (from Mosquito Film Distribution)


The feeling lingers, and my thoughts on rice remain vivid. Even after I’ve told the stories of rice and rice people in the movies, STORIES FROM THE NORTH and AGRARIAN UTOPIA, I feel the urge to keep going, to get back to the rice paddies, and to dispel the shreds of anxiety that cling inside. Any filmmaker who’s set out to do a trilogy would never find peace of mind unless he finishes all the three films, otherwise it’s impossible for him to move on to another project. The third film must be completed so the curtain can be drawn. Whether I will return to visit the story of rice again in the future remains to be seen.

In STORIES FROM THE NORTH, I merged documentary film with fiction and unfold the stories in several small yet distinguishable parts. AGRARIAN UTOPIA, meanwhile, is fiction that relies on the documentary format, even though the process and the development of the idea were sometimes turned upside down.

In THE SONGS OF RICE, my intention is to loosen the strict frame of thought in documentary filmmaking. I want to reveal more of the process by following non- preconception style; it is a record of reality and what actually happens before my eyes. To me, this is how a documentary film can breathe. This is how we capture the existence of story, instead of shaping it.

When an artist paints a flower with water color, what is more important: the finished picture of the flower, or the moment of execution when the artist dips his brush in the palette and daubs it on the paper? The final outcome may be the beautiful flower that captivates the viewer, but the process of painting, the ticking of time as the brush makes contact with the paper – that is the special moment for the artist. What about filmmaking? Do we simply look forward to seeing our finished movies, or do we make movies because it’s our lives, because we look forward to that moment when we make contact with the light that falls on the lens and reflects in our eyes? We look forward to make contact with people, with the movement of life before us, with the infinite probability of the universe. We look forward to feeling that magical second – that’s all we want when we make film.

True, we need a frame in our work. But that frame should have an opening, a gap, a hole that works as ventilation which allows the work to breathe the same air as the people outside do. That’s how art communicate with the people. Otherwise, that frame will become metal bars that lock the artist inside his own world, sadly disconnected from the reality out there.

Director’s Statement

The feeling lingers, and my thoughts on rice remain vivid. Even after I’ve told the stories of rice and rice people in the movies, STORIES FROM THE NORTH and AGRARIAN UTOPIA, I feel the urge to keep going, to get back to the rice paddies, and to dispel the shreds of anxiety that cling inside. Any filmmaker who’s set out to do a trilogy would never find peace of mind unless he finishes all the three films, otherwise it’s impossible for him to move on to another project. The third film must be completed so the curtain can be drawn. Whether I will return to visit the story of rice again in the future remains to be seen.
In STORIES FROM THE NORTH, I merged documentary film with fiction and unfold the stories in several small yet distinguishable parts. AGRARIAN UTOPIA, meanwhile, is fiction that relies on the documentary format, even though the process and the development of the idea were sometimes turned upside down.
In THE SONGS OF RICE, my intention is to loosen the strict frame of thought in documentary filmmaking. I want to reveal more of the process by following non- preconception style; it is a record of reality and what actually happens before my eyes. To me, this is how a documentary film can breathe. This is how we capture the existence of story, instead of shaping it.
When an artist paints a flower with water color, what is more important: the finished picture of the flower, or the moment of execution when the artist dips his brush in the palette and daubs it on the paper? The final outcome may be the beautiful flower that captivates the viewer, but the process of painting, the ticking of time as the brush makes contact with the paper – that is the special moment for the artist. What about filmmaking? Do we simply look forward to seeing our finished movies, or do we make movies because it’s our lives, because we look forward to that moment when we make contact with the light that falls on the lens and reflects in our eyes? We look forward to make contact with people, with the movement of life before us, with the infinite probability of the universe. We look forward to feeling that magical second – that’s all we want when we make film.
True, we need a frame in our work. But that frame should have an opening, a gap, a hole that works as ventilation which allows the work to breathe the same air as the people outside do. That’s how art communicate with the people. Otherwise, that frame will become metal bars that lock the artist inside his own world, sadly disconnected from the reality out there.
- See more at: http://mosquitofilmsdistribution.com/the-songs-of-rice/#sthash.hrfDoZKS.dpuf