Memories of COVID-19 by Thai film crews: Encountering and navigating film sets (not) as cramped spaces (Video Essay)
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Date
2026-09-04
Authors
Promkhuntong, Wikanda
Tiammek, Natthanun
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Film and Screen Media, University College Cork
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Abstract
This video essay captures the voices of screen workers in Thailand during the pandemic, when a progressive political movement also emerged against the military-led government. Focusing on the moments when the crews were finally able to return to work under restrictions, the video essay highlights how different types of productions negotiate and regulate themselves so that they did not look like “cramped spaces” under the inspection of the health authorities. The challenges to following restriction rules mean that crews have to negotiate based on their management skills, lobbying power, and hustling savviness. The micro-stories explored in the video essay range from the pain of repeated deep-nostril swab tests, getting used to individual box lunches instead of socialised meals, to travelling with different permits to look for locations or props. The video essay format itself navigates restricted access to the sets using donated crew images, open-sourced soundtracks, and royalty-free footage from other crews elsewhere beyond Thailand. This collective bricolage highlights the possibility of a minor documentary to make visible off-screen stories that drive the local and global screen economy under lockdown.
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Promkhuntong, W. and Tiammek, N. (2026) 'Memories of COVID-19 by Thai film crews: Encountering and navigating film sets (not) as cramped spaces (Video Essay), Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, 31, pp. 91–95. https://doi.org/10.33178/alpha.31.06