Madani X Binus

The Cursed Land

Panu Aree & Kong Rithdee | 2024 | Thailand | 128 min | Malay, Thai Sub: English | 17+

Following their success in documentary filmmaking, Panu Aree and Kong Rithdee venture into horror with The Cursed Land. This film broadens the scope of Thai horror, traditionally rooted in Buddhist cosmology, by incorporating vernacular Muslim beliefs. It world premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2024. Set in the early 2000s, The Cursed Land blends Thailand’s political and ethnic tensions with Malay folklore into a thrilling horror film. After moving to a derelict mansion in Bangkok, skeptic Mit’s removal of protective talismans unleashes a vengeful djinn and its 200-year-old curse. As Mit spirals into delirium, his daughter May undertakes a journey to the south to seek help from a Muslim doctor. Panu Aree, a filmmaker since 1995, started as a sound recordist before directing acclaimed shorts featured at prestigious festivals like Yamagata, Vancouver, Busan, Pusan, Taiwan, etc. Kong Rithdee, deputy director of the Thai Film Archive and an experienced film critic, has written for the Bangkok Post and translated the award-winning Thai novel The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth into English. In 2014, he received the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres from France. Together, Aree and Rithdee have created films exploring Muslim identity in Thailand, including Baby Arabia (2010) and GADDAFI (2014).