(2016, DCP, 102m) dir Sompot Chidgasornpongse (Thailand). Railway Sleepers explores the close connection between Thai people and the Thai railway. Through various activities and scenes inside and outside the moving vehicles, the film turns the train into a microcosm of life in Thailand. With mundane talk, onboard walks, outward gazes, exchanged glances, sitting, and sleeping, the film takes the audience to experience a 2-day, 2-night trip from the north to the south. As the vehicle’s rhythm synchronizes with the mechanism of a movie camera, the history of the Thai train is encapsulated in this moving entity, while we become passengers of light. This event is presented by the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and sponsored by the University of Minnesota Imagine Fund. Admission is free at the door. 

7:00