Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who won Palme d’Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival with Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall Past Lives, has a new job! We’ve just learned that Weerasethakul is seeking financing and production partners for his next project titled Cemetery of Kings, which means we’ll soon have another powerful story that will (this time) take us to the “dream-land”.
An official entry at the Asia Film Financing Forum at Filmart, Cemetery of Kings story is set in a small town on the Mekong River in northern Thailand, where 27 soldiers come down with a strange sleeping sickness.
According to THR, Apichatpong is completing the script and expects to begin shooting by the end of this year. In addition to the above mentioned plot, the movie will also include strange dreams, phantoms, a mysterious river creature and tangled romances.
What also sounds great at this moment is that Weerasethakul’s frequent collaborator Jenjira Widner will reprise her role from Uncle Boonmee and Syndromes and Century. In other words, she will star as a nurse tasked with caring for the soldiers.
The film’s budget is $1 million, because, according to director – with a higher budget, you’re never as flexible:
“I find flexibility is a very happy way of working. And it also depends on the project – the next film after this one is more ambitious in terms of financing.”
We’re definitely interested in more details about Cemetery of Kings, in case you share our enthusiasm – make sure you stay tuned for more updates!