Syndromes and a Century: Thailand's Edition set for release on April 10

With scratched black film-reel leader and silence to replace the parts the censors cut out, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Syndromes and a Century will be released on April 10 for a limited run at Siam Paragon.

This will likely be the only way to see the special Thailand's Edition. The cultural authorities should be proud to have something so exclusive, and they had a hand in it, so congratulations are in order. Ticket holders will get a souvenir postcard – a collector’s item. Also, part of the box-office proceeds will go to the Free Thai Cinema Movement supported by the Thai Film Foundation.

Siam Paragon is one of Bangkok's glitziest, most heavily trafficked shopping malls. The opening day on April 10 comes as the long Thai New Year weekend is getting under way. Though Bangkok tends to empty out with folks going back to provinces for Thailand's biggest holiday, this is still a big weekend, and is very high profile.

There's a message here that I think Apichatpong is trying to send. One that he's too polite to say explicitly, and one that I don't feel is necessary to print, even though I am thinking it right now as I type this.

Perhaps during the seven-minute blanked-out scene, the audience can contemplate that message.

More information:

• The Film Act and censorship of Syndromes
  
• Apichatpong exhausted; 'officially approved version' of Syndromes prepared for screening in Thailand
  
• Syndromes and a Century on DVD
• Review: Syndromes and a Century