Thailand’s Floating Film Festival

Thailand's floating cinema blows its drive-in counterparts out of the water. Designed by Beijing-based architect Ole Scheeren, the Archipelago Cinema and Six Senses Resort hosted the final screenings of the Film on the Rocks Yao Noi Festival early last month.

Moviegoers were transported by boat to their floating seats, which were situated on a raft-like apparatus in the Nae Pi Lae lagoon of Kudu Island. Opposite the seats, and nestled in between two looming rocks, was the full-sized, floating screen.

Scheeren describes the atmosphere of his cinema as "a sense of temporality, randomness, almost like driftwood. Or maybe something more architectural: Modular pieces, loosely assembled, like a group of little islands that congregate to form an auditorium."

All components of the floating cinema were composed of recycled materials gathered by local fisherman, who previously used it to build floating lobster farms. The cinema is indeed recyclable itself: after the festival, it is set to be dismantled and donated to the Yao Noi community for use as a playground and a floating stage.

[via Architizer]