Philip Jablon

Researcher

Industry : Advocacy

No entity or organisation is making a case for the preservation of independent movie theatres in Southeast Asia as much as one Philip Jablon. Originally from Philly and recently moved back just before COVID, Philip had been living in Thailand and travelling around Southeast Asia for over a decade. He has kept himself busy in this part of the world, travelling to the remotest of provinces and districts, guided only by local knowledge and hearsay, to document any remaining standalone theatres he can find. In Thailand, Philip has photographed over 300 theatres, compiling some of the most memorable ones in his book, Thailand''s Movie Theatres: Relics, Ruins and the Romance of Escape. In a race against time, aggressive modernisation and apathy, Philip is still actively rallying to get Bangkok’s iconic Scala Theatre, which closed suddenly in July 2020, the historical and architectural recognition it deserves, in hopes of preventing in this instance the tragic fate of most old, independent theatres in the modern world.