A chronicle of the genesis and creation of Memoria, the new film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
After visiting Colombia in 2017, Apichatpong chose the country as the location for his first feature shot outside of his native Thailand. In the following two years, he returned for several visits and travelled extensively, listening to the stories of the people he met along the way.
The book Memoria gathers the memories he collected, in the form of photographs, a personal diary and sketchbook, research notes, treatment excerpts, and email correspondence. These are placed alongside exclusive materials from the film’s production: set photographs, a diary of the shoot, annotated pages from the shooting script, storyboard panels, contributions from the cast and crew, and more.
Printed in a beautiful art book edition, the result is an extraordinary immersion into the creative processes and work methods of one of contemporary cinema’s true visionaries.

Edited by Weerasethakul himself, this publication offers a collection of perspectives on the multi-faceted practice of one of the leading artists and filmmakers of his generation. Encompassing the full complexity of the artist’s practice across media, The Serenity of Madness compiles a wide range of source materials and texts that have informed his work over the last two decades, including personal photographs, email conversations among friends, excerpts of websites and scientific studies, and poetry. The publication also features interviews by the film curator Andrea Lissoni, the art curator Gridthiya Gaweewong, and the Thai political activist Withit Chandawong.
The Serenity of Madness invites readers into Weerasethakul’s intimate exploration of his influences—in his words, “like a stream of consciousness, suffocated by the data.” It opens up new perspectives on an artistic practice that is anchored in stories often excluded from history in and out of Thailand: voices of the poor and ill, marginalized beings, and those silenced and censored for personal and political reasons.
ICI’s Sourcebook series is dedicated to contemporary artists’ personal perspectives on social, political, and cultural issues. Each book, edited by a single artist, includes a collection of primary research materials and influences, such as rare archival documents, artwork studies, and excerpts of landmark publications, selected from the artist’s own archive and annotated with personal commentary.