Young Birds From Strange Mountains

This short films program offer a small light into Sarnt Utamachote’s recent curatorial project “Young Birds From Strange Mountains” (นกแปลกจากหุบเขาประหลาด / Con chim đến từ núi lạ /  Burung-burung Muda dari Pegunungan Antah Berantah; co-curated with Hải Nam Nguyễn and Ferdiansyah Thajib) at Schwules Museum. The project highlights the role of LGBT+ people in Southeast Asian shamanism, spirituality, and archives, even long before the colonial period or foundation of the nation-state. “Unglorious Worship Booth” kicks off the evening by questioning the Asian LGBT+ obsession with white people and bodies, while “It's all because of a Kathoey” states the term “Katheoy” back in 1954 before the gained popularity of LGBT+ term in the late 1960s. “I enjoy being a girl” looks back at Malaysia’s queer spaces and drag queens, those who staged their own preferred gender and beauty via self-photograph. “Memory of sky is enough” recalls us back to our ancestors’ role in shaman, which stretches beyond high above the memory of the earth: nation-state, country, borders, to the sky. The short film screening will be followed by a hybrid conversation programme with the curator and artist.

Films:

• Unglorious Worship Booth (dir. Indra Liusuari, Australia 2022, 4 min., English).
• Its all because of a Kathoey (courtesy of Thai Film Archive, Thailand 1954, 14 min., Silent with English subtitles).
• I enjoy being a girl (dir. Hoo Fan Chon, Malaysia 2022, 37 min., Bahasa Malaysia with English subtitles).
• The Memory of Sky is Enough (dir. Viet Le, Vietnam 2024, 35 min. Vietnamese with English subtitles).