Pailin Wedel

Pailin Wedel is a Thai-American photojournalist, film director and producer best known for directing, producing and co-writing the documentary Hope Frozen (2018), which was picked up for distribution through Netflix in 2020. She served as producer on Operation Thailand, a documentary series that explored Thailand's medical tourism industry, and as a director on 101 East, a weekly current affairs series created by Al Jazeera. Prior to her work in film and video journalism, Wedel created content for multiple publications, including The New York Times[1] and The Washington Post.[2] With her husband, she also founded 2050 Productions, a Bangkok-based documentary team, in 2016.[3]

Pailin Wedel
Born
Bangkok, Thailand
EducationNIST International School
Alma materUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Occupation(s)Film director, film producer, photojournalist
Years active2004–present
Known for
SpousePatrick Winn

Early life

Wedel was born to Yuangrat Wedel, a professor of political philosophy, and Paul Wedel, a journalist and former president of Kenan Foundation Asia,[4] together the authors of Radical Thought, Thai Mind, a history book that documents changes in Thailand's political ideology over the past 200 years.[5] As a child, Wedel lived with her family in India, Singapore and Thailand.[6] She attended and graduated from NIST International School in Bangkok, Thailand before moving to the United States and graduating with a degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2004.[7]

Career

Following her graduation, Wedel developed an interest in journalism and worked at The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina as a photographer.[7] She went on to teach herself video production, with her early professional work including short pieces for international outlets such as National Geographic and The New York Times.[8] This led to Wedel working as a director on several episodes of Al Jazeera's 101 East, including "Asia's Meth Boom", exploring the production of methamphetamines in Myanmar and Thailand; "Myanmar: Free and Fair?", following activists in Myanmar leading up to the country's elections in 2015; "The Vanishing Sea Tribe", showing the Moken sea tribe's struggle to adapt to modernity; and "Thailand's Tainted Robes", describing multiple scandals among Thailand's Buddhist monks.[9][10][11][12]

Wedel began work on Hope Frozen, her first full-length documentary, after reading about news stories of a Thai family seeking to cryonically preserve their deceased daughter. She joined her husband for an interview with the family, and their extended conversation led to the decision to make the film, which took five years in total to complete.[13] Wedel spent the first year gaining the family's trust, after which they shared family footage that Wedel combined with her own recording to produce the film.[14] The family's decision to preserve their daughter, as well as Hope Frozen itself, were the subject of controversy in Thailand due to the country's predominantly Buddhist culture and beliefs, and also contributed to the international debate regarding cryonics[15][16]

However, the film was positively received by critics and won several awards, including the 2017 £80,000 Funding Award from The Whickers Film & TV Funding Awards, Best International Feature Documentary at the 2019 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Best Documentary Feature at the 2020 San Antonio Independent Film Festival and Best Documentary at the 2021 International Emmy Awards.[17][18][19][20]

In 2022, she directed the documentary The Trapped 13: How We Survived The Thai Cave about the Tham Luang cave rescue for Netflix.

References
  1. Emma Cott and Pailin Wedel (12 November 2015). "Muslims Sidelined in Myanmar Election". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  2. Pailin Wedel (17 May 2016). "Harrowing scenes of drug addiction in the mountains between China and Burma". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  3. "Contact - 2050 Productions". 2050 Productions. 2050 Productions. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  4. "Paul Wedel". Tatler Thailand. Blue Mango Publishing Company Limited. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  5. Radical Thought, Thai Mind: A History of Revolutionary Ideology in a Traditional Society. 3 January 2019. ISBN 978-1792758249.
  6. Sophia Stewart (26 April 2019). "Hot Docs 2019 Women Directors: Meet Pailin Wedel – "Hope Frozen"". Women and Hollywood. Women and Hollywood Productions, LLC. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  7. Phunnattha Manutham (6 November 2020). "The Natural Progression Of Pailin Wedel From In Front Of The Camera To Behind". Thailand Tatler. Blue Mango Publishing Company Limited. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  8. "EDN Member of the Month – Pailin Wedel". WebWire. WebWire. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  9. "Asia's Meth Boom". Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera Media Network. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  10. "Myanmar: Free and Fair?". Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera Media Network. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  11. "The vanishing sea tribe". Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera Media Network. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  12. "Thailand's tainted robes". Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera Media Network. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  13. Elaine Yau (8 September 2020). "Hope Frozen, Netflix Thai documentary about cryonic freezing of girl's brain and her family's emotional journey, is also about Thailand's scientific prowess, filmmaker says". South China Morning Post. Alibaba Group. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  14. Joe Freeman (15 September 2020). "New Netflix Documentary Follows Thai Family That Cryogenically Froze Daughter's Remains". Vice. Vice Media Group. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  15. Pat Mullen (27 April 2019). "Review: 'Hope Frozen'". Point of View (POV) Magazine. Point of View Magazine. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  16. Simon Ings (23 September 2020). "Hope Frozen review: The hard ethics of cryogenically freezing a child". New Scientist. New Scientist Ltd. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  17. "Funding and Sage Award 2017 Winners Announced at Sheffield Doc/Fest". The Whickers. The Whickers. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  18. "Hot Docs 2019 Awards". Hot Docs. Hot Docs. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  19. Aggie Yu and Pradon Sirakovit (18 August 2020). "Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice Lands on Netflix". Netflix. Netflix, Inc. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  20. "Winners Archive". International Emmy Awards. International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
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