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At first glance, "Jao Nok Krajok" ("Mundane History"), the first feature film from young director Anocha "Mai" Suwichakornpong, would appear to be a family drama, the story of the relationship between a father and his disabled son, the victim of an accident that has left him paralysed from the waist down.

A loosely experimental film with a timeline that jumps back and forth, the story also centres on a male nurse hired to take care of the young man and attend to his daily needs.

Family tensions are addressed, but so too are social issues, class, history and even the universe. Anocha says the idea for breaking up the structure of the storyline developed when she started editing the footage with pal and collaborator Lee Chatametikool.

"It's a non-linear way of storytelling. We don't start from one and go up to 10 but tell the story the way we want," says the 33-year-old Mai, whose 2006 thesis film "Graceland", made while she was still at Columbia University, was the first Thai short to be included in the Cinéfondation's official selection at the Cannes Film Festival.

Realistic sex

She uses silence and less dialogue to highlight the repetitive life of the disabled and also presents one aspect of their problems that many find it difficult to discuss - sex.

"I try to portray it in a realistic way and not dramatise it," she stresses. "It should be discussed because it's a real life issue."

But Anocha knows that many disabled people are still kept hidden away from larger Thai society, unlike in the West where they lead an open life and are able to get around easily thanks to the facilities provided. Disabled Thais, on the other hand, are still protesting about lack of access to public transportation, with out of order signs all too often adorning the elevators on the Skytrain and subway systems.

"They are like nok krajok (sparrows), a common bird found everywhere in Thailand. We catch these birds then release them to make merit yet we think of them as insignificant even though they are everywhere. That's why I chose this name for the film."

Anocha's film premiered last month at the Pusan film festival. It will screen next year at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and there will hopefully be a limited release in Thai cinemas.

"A movie has its own life. It doesn't belong to just the filmmaker. The audience will have their own interpretation after the ending and it may be different from the director's idea. They may be love it or hate it. And that's the charm of cinema," she says.

 GETTING IT NIGHT

>> "Mundane History" is the opening film of the World Film Festival o fBangkok.

>> It screens at 8 tomorrow night (invitation only) and at 9.45pm next Thursday at Paragon Cineplex as part of the World Film Festival of Bangkok.

>> Financial support came from the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, for script development and post-production.

>> It also won post-production support from the Asian Cinema Fund of the Pusan International Film Festival.

 >> The production received support from the 2006 Produire au Sud Bangkok workshop of the World Film Festival.