Cemetery of Splendor

April 24, 2016 · Knoxville Museum of Art · 2:00 p.m.

Soldiers with a mysterious sleeping sickness are transferred to a temporary clinic in a former school. The memory-filled space becomes a revelatory world for housewife and volunteer Jenjira, as she watches over Itt, a handsome soldier with no family visitors. Jen befriends young medium Keng who uses her psychic powers to help loved ones communicate with the comatose men. Doctors explore ways, including colored light therapy, to ease the mens’ troubled dreams. Jen discovers Itt’s cryptic notebook of strange writings and blueprint sketches. There may be a connection between the soldiers’ enigmatic syndrome and the mythic ancient site that lies beneath the clinic. Magic, healing, romance and dreams are all part of Jen’s tender path to a deeper awareness of herself and the world around her.

“Few filmmakers this side of David Lynch are as adept or intuitive as Apichatpong Weerasethakul when it comes to appropriating the language of dreams.” — Justin Change, Variety

“It gently and often imperceptibly shifts between past and present, legend and modernity, wakefulness and reverie.” — James Lattimer, Slant

About the Filmmaker

Apitchatpong Weerasethakul is a Thai filmmaker and visual artist. His art installations have been awarded the Sharjah Biennial Prize and the Yanghyun Art Prize in South Korea. His work has been exhibited internationally and acquired by museums including the Tate Modern and the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. His feature films include Tropical Malady (’04) and Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (10), which were awarded the Jury Prize and the Palme d’Or at Cannes respectively.