Vive le cinéma! Apichatpong “Joe” Weerasethakul’s upcoming film has been chosen as a recipient of the €1.5 million (approximately THB 55 million) Fondazione Prada Film Fund.

Apichatpong “Joe” Weerasethakul’s latest project, Jenjira’s Magnificent Dream, has secured fresh backing, joining 14 titles selected for the newly launched Fondazione Prada Film Fund. Unveiled last year in Venice, the €1.5 million (approximately THB 55 million) fund is headed by former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight artistic director Paolo Moretti, aiming to bolster global independent cinema and champion a wide range of distinctive voices.

With upwards of 1,200 submissions, the fund has become something of a Moby-Dick within the contemporary film landscape. That Apichatpong has secured Prada’s support further consolidates his standing as Thailand’s most celebrated auteur.

Over the years, his body of work has become a touchstone in both academic discourse and cinephile circles, prompting debate around its formal experimentation, his hypnotic long takes associated with slow cinema and the layered presence of Buddhist symbolism throughout his films.

This marks just the first round, with additional funding cycles still to come. For independent filmmakers, the momentum is clearly building. If anything, it is a timely reminder that cinema is very much alive.

What Is His Upcoming Film About?

Jenjira’s Magnificent Dream, currently in production, reunites Apichatpong with longtime collaborator Jenjira Pongpas, whom audiences may remember from Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010), winner of the much-coveted Palme d’Or at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival.

According to sources, the film follows Jenjira, a Thai widow who travels to Sri Lanka to scatter her husband’s ashes. Yet, as with any work by Apichatpong, the premise is only a point of departure. Uncanny visions begin to unsettle her sense of time and space, drawing her into a journey that slips across different eras.

If it sounds like science fiction, that’s because it is. It is partly inspired by English sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke and the 52 years he spent in Sri Lanka. For longtime Apichatpong devotees, the genre’s presence comes as no surprise: speculative threads have run through his work from his debut Mysterious Object at Noon (2000) to Memoria (2021), starring Tilda Swinton, who is reported to return for Jenjira’s Magnificent Dream.