Sompot Chidgasornpongse

Directing

Sompot Chidgasornpongse

Born 1980-04-16 · Bangkok, Thailand

Sompot Chidgasornpongse graduated with a bachelor's degree in architecture from Chulalongkorn university, and an MFA in Film/Video from California Institute of the Arts. He's been working closely with Apichatpong Weerasethakul as assistant director in many films, including Tropical Malady, Syndromes and a Century, Cemetery of Splendour, and Memoria. His personal short films were shown at various international film festivals around the world, such as Oberhausen, Rotterdam, Viennale, Visions du Réel, Indielisboa, Signes de Nuit, etc. His works explore the possibility of representing everyday life in a creative and thought-provoking way. His first feature documentary, Railway Sleepers, had its World premiere in Documentary Competition at Busan International Film Festival, and European premiere in the Forum section at Berlinale. Since then, the film has been traveling to many international film festivals worldwide, including True/False, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Melbourne IFF, Pravo Ljudsku FF, RIDM, Luang Prabang FF, TIDF, etc. He's also a Berlinale Talents alumnus (as director and editor), and Talents Tokyo alumnus. Sompot is based in Bangkok.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

9 Temples to Heaven poster
10.0

After a fortune teller warns him that his elderly mother may die soon, Sakol (63) sets out on a one-day pilgrimage to nine temples as a remedy. Just two weeks before her birthday, he brings his ailing mother, along with his wife, brother, sister, and children, on the trip amid the splendor of Thai architecture. From temple to temple, the nine family members are forced to bridge their clashes, while the grandmother grows physically and mentally weary.

9 Temples to Heaven

2026

9 Temples to Heaven poster
10.0

After a fortune teller warns him that his elderly mother may die soon, Sakol (63) sets out on a one-day pilgrimage to nine temples as a remedy. Just two weeks before her birthday, he brings his ailing mother, along with his wife, brother, sister, and children, on the trip amid the splendor of Thai architecture. From temple to temple, the nine family members are forced to bridge their clashes, while the grandmother grows physically and mentally weary.

9 Temples to Heaven

2026

No artwork available
7.0

To infinity and Beyond combines documented footage with fictional narratives. The film consists of two parts made up of the same footage but narrated from two different, yet related, perspectives. The footage captures the activities of villagers in a Thai ceremonial tradition called 'Boon Bung Fai'. The objective of the ceremony, though quite forgotten, is to worship the sky and beg for the rain. The film explores juxtaposition between documentary and fiction; silence and sound; folk tale and modern-day news reporting, as well as relationships between man and nature, earth and sky, dream and reality, east and west, and most importantly, the past and the present that will lead us to the future.

To Infinity and Beyond

2004

No artwork available
7.0

To infinity and Beyond combines documented footage with fictional narratives. The film consists of two parts made up of the same footage but narrated from two different, yet related, perspectives. The footage captures the activities of villagers in a Thai ceremonial tradition called 'Boon Bung Fai'. The objective of the ceremony, though quite forgotten, is to worship the sky and beg for the rain. The film explores juxtaposition between documentary and fiction; silence and sound; folk tale and modern-day news reporting, as well as relationships between man and nature, earth and sky, dream and reality, east and west, and most importantly, the past and the present that will lead us to the future.

To Infinity and Beyond

2004

No artwork available
7.0

To infinity and Beyond combines documented footage with fictional narratives. The film consists of two parts made up of the same footage but narrated from two different, yet related, perspectives. The footage captures the activities of villagers in a Thai ceremonial tradition called 'Boon Bung Fai'. The objective of the ceremony, though quite forgotten, is to worship the sky and beg for the rain. The film explores juxtaposition between documentary and fiction; silence and sound; folk tale and modern-day news reporting, as well as relationships between man and nature, earth and sky, dream and reality, east and west, and most importantly, the past and the present that will lead us to the future.

To Infinity and Beyond

2004

Railway Sleepers poster
7.0

The first railway line in Thailand was inaugurated in 1893 – a sign of progress and prosperity. Shot over eight years on every active line of the country's railway system, this wondrous documentary offers an unprecedented immersion into the country's past and present.

Railway Sleepers

2017

Railway Sleepers poster
7.0

The first railway line in Thailand was inaugurated in 1893 – a sign of progress and prosperity. Shot over eight years on every active line of the country's railway system, this wondrous documentary offers an unprecedented immersion into the country's past and present.

Railway Sleepers

2017

Diseases and a Hundred Year Period poster
NR

Diseases and a Hundred Year Period is a film-tract that comes to us from Thailand. It is directed by Sompot Chidgasornpongse, Weerasethakul's assistant on several of his films (including Syndromes and a Century), in reaction to the censorship of Syndromes and a Century in Thailand.

Diseases and a Hundred Year Period

2008

Diseases and a Hundred Year Period poster
NR

Diseases and a Hundred Year Period is a film-tract that comes to us from Thailand. It is directed by Sompot Chidgasornpongse, Weerasethakul's assistant on several of his films (including Syndromes and a Century), in reaction to the censorship of Syndromes and a Century in Thailand.

Diseases and a Hundred Year Period

2008

Diseases and a Hundred Year Period poster
NR

Diseases and a Hundred Year Period is a film-tract that comes to us from Thailand. It is directed by Sompot Chidgasornpongse, Weerasethakul's assistant on several of his films (including Syndromes and a Century), in reaction to the censorship of Syndromes and a Century in Thailand.

Diseases and a Hundred Year Period

2008

Home Video (Made in Thai Town) poster
NR

'Home Video (Made in Thai Town)' is about the act of recording and its product as a cultural medium. The film explores the relationship between deteriorating records and the disappearance of societal and personal memories.

Home Video (Made in Thai Town)

2010

The Physical Realm poster
NR

A man's physical pain prompts him to reminisce about an unborn child from his past relationship with another woman.

The Physical Realm

2023

The Physical Realm poster
NR

A man's physical pain prompts him to reminisce about an unborn child from his past relationship with another woman.

The Physical Realm

2023