UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES

Tuesday, December 9, 6:00 p.m. & Sunday, December 14, 12:00 p.m. | Apichatpong Weerasethakul (MFA 1998, HON 2011) won Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or for this meditative, lyrical, and imaginative masterpiece that evokes the invisible worlds beyond and within. Awaiting death after the failure of his kidneys, Uncle Boonmee retreats into the countryside to recall and ponder his past lives, as well as the death ahead of him. He is accompanied by loved ones and visited by his deceased wife as a ghost and his lost son as a nonhuman creature. Weerasethakul creates a serene, mysterious, and contemplative tone for his poetic exploration of dreams, visions, impermanence, death, and reincarnation.

Special Guest: Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (virtual appearance) at the December 9 screening.

Awards & Nominations

Winner - Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival
Nominee - Best Film, Top 10 Film Award, Cahiers du Cinéma

Interiority on Screen Lecture Series | Fall 2025

This series focuses on cinematic works that depict the subjectivities and mental states of their characters in unconventional, intimate, and poetic manners. Tuesday film screenings will be accompanied by lectures, where these films will be discussed not only from the standpoint of critical spectatorship but also from a filmmaker’s point of view. Select titles offered with Sunday encores. Tickets for Sunday encores are regular price and do not include the lecture. Presented in collaboration with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Art History, Theory, and Criticism department. Lecturer: Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, Assistant Professor of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation.

The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu