Paolo Diaz

in-tangible institute was pleased to welcome Paolo Diaz to its ‘Creative In Residence’ from 4 August – 26 September, 2025, with thanks to the POZEN Family Center for Human Rights, University of Chicago.

Paolo’s residency worked in collaboration with in-tangible institute’s Moving the Image program, dedicated to challenging the role of the moving image in contemporary life and exploring its capacity to act as a catalyst to provoke discussion, foster analytical thinking, and address intersectional, interregional issues of social and political justice. His time in residence was spent developing a screening program aimed at exploring issues of labor rights and immigration, as both a regional and global concern. This screening program was followed by a moderated discussion that brought diverse communities into conversation to engage these issues from multiple perspectives.

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Paolo’s Impact reflection towards in-tangible’s Creative In Residence.

On Generating Global Dialogue in Eight Weeks

When I introduced the ‘Conversaciones’ screening series to our audience, I mentioned that the distance from Lima, Perú to Chiang Mai, Thailand was of 19, 141 km (about 11,902 miles). That number is still astounding to me. Quite literally halfway across the globe, we presented films that were resounding and important to our attendees. Most didn’t know much about South America, yet they saw its parallelisms with their native Thailand (or with the larger Southeast Asia). When Coffea Arábiga (1968), was connected with Made in Thailand (1999), a hidden thread was uncovered. A globally connecting one. Labor and migration issues were present in SEA, but the same issues were taking place in other parts of the world too. Everyone saw it and had the chance to talk about it. To me, that was the most important thing about my time in Thailand.

Getting to that point was difficult. Eight weeks is a short timeframe. A terribly minuscule drop in the sea of time. However, while insignificant, it may be powerful – one just needs to know what to do with it. Some tasks: contacting artists from 8 different countries, subtitling and re-subtitling 118 minutes of video, downloading DCPs and watching an insurmountable quantity of films. While hectic, it all worked out. Mistakes were made – it’s only natural – but the fixups were rather quick, and the outcome was never significantly affected. Eight weeks was everything we needed to make it work.

I write plurally because this was a plural work. We are products of our context; products of not only everything, but also everyone that surrounds us. This screening program, too, was a product of everyone who gave their advice or opinion on it. Many times, this was while having a pastry in KRISP, a couple times over drinks at Sudsanan, and once while eating Mu Kratha at Big Big Shabu – all of them were incredibly useful. Random chats with local people were surprisingly often-times enlightening, and conversations with Burmese artists were crucial in understanding the regional sociopolitical dynamics that permeated into the artistic and cultural worlds. The support given by in-tangible itself was invaluable – forever thankful to Karn, Blake and Zoe. Everyone was amazing.

During these discussions, a thing that often came to light was the function of art, and the distancing between form and message. While not necessarily dichotomous, for many there was a strong sense that many films sacrificed a political message in the benefit of a more polished form. How can we talk about Burmese labor if most of the films depict it without saying anything about it? How to discuss immigration if the political context is hidden to the viewer? The program sought to reconcile them. We can have excellent films that have strong narratives but still maintain cohesive and meaningful aesthetics. So, let’s include them.

In the end, this program was about generating conversations (hence the title), and I think that it was successful. The two great days of screening (plus one day of engaged discussion) are clear evidence that it was all accomplished. More time would’ve allowed for bigger ambitions, but our timeframe constrained us, and we did the best we could with what we had. My time in Thailand was fantastic – the food, oh, the food – and the people I met were incredible too. I have left Chiang Mai happy, satisfied with my work, and hoping that one day I may come back. Thank you, guys, – Karn, Blake, Zoe – for everything.