3:15 minutes, 35mm (blow-up from digital), Digital copy available for exhibiition, 16:9, Dolby 5.1, Colour, 2008
Director / Camera / Editor: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Cast: Jaai Loongsu, Nitipong Thinthupthai
Post Production Supervisor: Lee Chatametikool
Sound: Chalermrat Kaweewattana
Sound Designer: Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr
Stills: Chaisiri Jiwarangsan
Assistant Directors: Suchada Sirithanawuddhi, Sompot Chidgasornpongse
Prop Master: Nitipong Thinthupthai
Production: Art for the World, Geneva / Milan

Mobile Men is part of Stories on Human Rights by Filmmakers, Artists and Writers, a project marking the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The 22 short films for the project are inspired by the six themes of the Universal Declaration: culture, development, dignity and justice, environment, gender and participation. Among the other participating artists and filmmakers were Marina Abramović, Sergej Bodrov, Jia Zhangke, Idrissa Ouédraogo, Pippilotti Rist, Abderrahmane Sissako, Pablo Trapero and Jasmila Žbanić. The project was an initiative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, produced by Art for the World, curated by Adelina von Fürstenberg. European Premiere at Théâtre National de Chaillot, 10 December 2008.




SYNOPSIS

Two young men in a pickup truck are filming themselves. Belonging to different parts of the world, through the use of a camera they are discovering each other. In a windy atmosphere, they initially film each other with close ups on parts of their bodies, then, little by little, they shoot their full figures. As the camera lenses change, a landscape of rice fields and a cinema crew get into the frame. The camera then reshoots the road and the men, as if we were witnessing a film rehearsal. When the frame goes back to shoot one of the two main characters who has tattoos over his body, the man lifts his shirt up and tears off a wired microphone that is taped to his chest. He then pastes it on the tattoo and cries out from the top of his lungs. The microphone picks up the heavy wind noise and the camera moves to captures his face. He looks directly at the camera, smiling.