Insects in the Backyard still banned

Back after the holidays and following up on news from the end of the year, it turns out that Tanwarin Sukkhapisit's Insects in the Backyard is still banned, according to news reports of a court ruling issued on Christmas Day.

In a ruling issued on December 25, the Administrative Court held that the ban on Insects is legitimate due to scenes that shows sex organs and intercourse.

“The Court said Insects in the Backyard has a scene showing sexual intercourse for around three seconds,which it deemed to be against good morals,” Tanwarin's lawyer Yingcheep Atchanont was quoted as saying by Khao Sod English.

If that scene is cut, Tanwarin could likely show the film, if it were rated 20-, the court suggested, according Khao Sod English.

The court's ruling backtracks on earlier reports that seemed to indicate that the ban might be overturned. However, those reports were based on one judge's opinion, issued independently "to balance the opinion of the panel of judges adjudicating it", according to the Bangkok Post.

So, I imagine, the landmark legal battle against censorship will continue. Tanwarin, meanwhile, is at work on her next project, more of which will be revealed.

A Christmas present for Tanwarin and Insects in the Backyard?

Insects in the Backyard was a landmark film for a lot of reasons. Besides being the best film Tanwarin Sukkhapisit has made, the drama of sexual and family dysfunction also pushed the boundaries of what could be presented in a publicly released Thai film.

It was too much for Thai censors in 2010, whose kneejerk reaction to Tanwarin's transgender father and his two sexually active teenagers was to ban the film.

Tanwarin fought back, and with the help of friendly lawyers, took her case to court. Now, her five-year long legal battle appears headed for a happy result, with news coming out during my travels that the ban is "likely" to be lifted.

So now the film has become a test case of the new Thai film ratings law, and might set a legal precedent for what Thai filmmakers can show onscreen.

In addition to determining that there wasn't actually a legal reason to ban the film (it doesn't, for example, violate "national security", "public order" or "morality"), the  court also said Tanwarin is owed 10,000 baht in compensation. The actual ruling will be read on December 25, so it could be a merry Christmas for Tanwarin.

The Bangkok Post has story, and there is coverage at Matichon, MThai, and Voice TV.

And Kong Rithdee says more about it and other censorship issues in his Saturday column in the Bangkok Post. Go read that.

(Thanks to Phil J. for the tip on news I'd missed.)

Banned film Arbat, now Arpatti, is unbanned

Arbat (อาบัติ), the Buddhist-themed horror film that was banned for its scenes of a monk kissing a girl, has been unbanned, and was released in Thai cinemas last night.

Running around three minutes shorter than the banned version, the movie is now known as Arpatti (อาปัติ).

"A little toned down" is how the movie is described in an article in The Nation by producer Prachya Pinkaew, whose Baa-Ram-Ewe production marque supported the film.

It is directed by Kanitta Kwunyoo, a young filmmaker making her debut feature. "I felt relieved that I could save the main theme of the movie," she is quoted as saying in The Nation.

According to the newspaper, the removed scenes included the novice monk kissing a woman and novices disrespectfully lifting a Buddha image by its head.

Censors, which had included Buddhist clergy on their committee, had also objected to scenes of monks drinking alcohol and getting into physical altercations.

The novice, a young man packed off to the monkhood by his father, is played by Charlie Potjes, a.k.a. Charlie Trairat, the former child actor from such movies as Fan Chan and Dorm. The story has the young man falling for a local girl. Meanwhile, dark secrets of the temple's past begin to manifest themselves.

The title change, from Arbat (อาบัติ) to Arpatti (อาบัติ), softens the film's image. The original title is a Pali word that refers to offenses committed by monks. The new title, Arpatti, has no apparent meaning. The difference as written in Thai is so subtle it is difficult to spot, with ปั instead of บั. New posters with the changed title were issued.

While Buddhist groups feared the film would cause Thais to lose faith in their majority religion, the film's supporters said it would strengthen the institution by calling attention to the issue of monks who break the Buddhist precepts – monks who drink, fornicate, fight, gamble, etc. – instances that are reported widely in the daily Thai press.

And though the filmmakers will deny it, there was also criticism that the movie's provocative original trailer and the ban itself were simply moves to generate publicity.

News of the ban received worldwide coverage, including articles in the Hollywood industry press.

Thailand's film-censorship law was changed in 2008, shifting the focus to a ratings system rather than 1930s-era one-size-fits-all blanket censorship. There are six ratings, ranging from P (for "promote") and G (general), to the age-related advisory categories, 13+, 15+ and 18+, and the restrictive 20-, which requires IDs to be shown. There is also a hidden seventh category, for films that are banned. Arpatti is rated 18+

Previously banned films include Tanwarin Sukkhapisit's erotic drama Insects in the Backyard and Ing K.'s political satire Shakespeare Must Die. Both filmmakers have appealed against the bans, and those cases are pending.

Other controversial films have included Nontawat Numbenchapol's 2013 Thai-Cambodian border documentary Boundary (ฟ้าต่ำแผ่นดินสูง, Fahtum Pandinsoong), which was banned and unbanned. There was also the political documentary Paradoxocracy (ประชาธิป'ไทย, Prachatipthai), which had the sound muted and subtitles blacked out when certain things were said.

Sahamongkol Film International, the studio releasing Arpatti, had previously released the Buddhist-themed crime thriller Nak Prok (นาคปรก, a.k.a. Shadow of the Naga), which had criminals posing as monks brandishing guns. It was eventually released in Thai cinemas with pop-up text warnings during certain scenes, to remind viewers that monks should not do those things.

Further coverage of the unbanning can be found in the Bangkok Post and there's discussion at the Dhamma Wheel forum.

Buddhist horror Arbat banned just days before premiere

Arbat (อาบัติ), a horror thriller centered on a teenage novice Buddhist monk, has been banned by censors, a day before the movie's press premiere.

According to various social-media and news sources, the Culture Ministry's film and media committee banned Arbat for four reasons: it shows the novice drinking alcohol, has scenes of novices fighting, depicts the novice having inappropriate contact with a female, and for a scene of the novice showing disrespect to the Buddha image.

The movie's trailer, released last month, caused a stir with a scene of the young monk touching the face of a girl, prompting Buddhist groups to demand that the film be banned. Thai Buddhist culture strictly prohibits physical contact between monks and females.

The debut feature by young director Kanittha Kwunyoo, Arbat was to be released in cinemas on Thursday, with a press and VIP premiere set Tuesday night.

According to the reports, the movie's studio, Sahamongkol Film International and producer Prachya Pinkaew's Baa-Ram-Ewe company, plan to appeal the decision.

The title Arbat actually means "offense" or "misdemeanor" and refers to acts committed against the Buddhist precepts.

“Viewers will understand the cause and the consequence of everything in the film," director Kanittha had told The Nation in an article last week. "Nothing is there just to stir up controversy. My father told me that if my intention was clear and I could make the film reach the goal I intended, then I should go for it. I haven’t touched on anything I don’t fully understand and I have made the film as a commitฌted Buddhist who still has faith in my religion.”

Starring Charlie Potjes as the central character, Arbat is about a young man who is forced into the monkhood by his father. He takes his vows and dons the monastic robes at a rural temple. Lonely and isolated, he grows close to a local girl in a relationship that would be innocent if the young man weren't a monk. Meanwhile, hidden secrets of the temple and of the young man's own life become revealed.

Also known as Charlie Trairat, the Arbat star is transitioning to more-mature roles after years of working as a child actor in such films as Fan Chan and Dorm.

The controversy over Arbat recalls another Sahamongkol film, Nak Prok (นาคปรก, a.k.a. Shadow of the Naga), which stirred opposition from Buddhist groups over its depiction of criminals dressed as monks brandishing guns and behaving violently. Nak Prok screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008 and was shelved for a couple of years by Sahamongkol.

Nak Prok was eventually released after the adoption of a film-ratings law overseen by the Culture Ministry, which in some ways has more leeway than the old system of blanket censorship administered by the Royal Thai Police, but still has provisions in place for the outright banning of films.

Update: Prachatai has more coverage.

Clouds, Gaddafi, Shakespeare and Censor in Singapore

The Singapore Art Museum's fourth annual Southeast Asian Film Festival will feature the premieres of several Thai films – Concrete Clouds, the short documentary Gaddafi and the one-two punch of the banned-in-Thailand Shakespeare Must Die and its companion documentary Censor Must Die.

Concrete Clouds makes its Singapore premiere in the festival on April 12, with director Lee Chatametikool on hand for a talk afterward. Clouds premiered in Busan last year and has also screened in Rotterdam and Vesoul. The story of a young stocks trader (Ananda Everingham) returning to Bangkok during the 1997 financial crisis, it's the feature directorial debut by Lee, who has been an editor on many films, most notably most of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's features.

Gaddafi, making its Asian premiere, precedes Clouds. The short documentary, the latest from Panu Aree, Kong Rithdee and Kaweenipon Ketprasit (The Convert, Baby Arabia), is about a Thai-Muslim teen who was given the name Mohammad Gaddafi by his father, who was an admirer of the slain Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. But now the boy's mother worries about the legacy of that name. "By giving the floor to both advocates and opponents, the interviews with this Thai- Muslim family pose the age-old question: what's in a name?" Gaddafi was previously featured in last year's International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

Director Ing K will be on hand on May 2 and for the Singapore premiere of the banned-in-Thailand Shakespeare Must Die and the "world premiere" of the companion documentary Censor Must Die, which chronicles the efforts of Ing K. and producer Manit Sriwanichpoom to screen Shakespeare in Thailand. Despite the ban, Shakespeare has screened at a few overseas festivals, including Tripoli, where it won the Grand Prize and NETPAC Prize.

Ahead of the screening in Singapore, Ing K. had this to say:

As one of the most banned people in the world, at work in a divided country under a regime that employs the best Western media and political lobbyists that money can buy, I'm uniquely qualified to be your tour guide to this artist's circle of hell. As a filmmaker I have been banned twice officially (My Teacher Eats Biscuits in 1998 and Shakespeare Must Die in 2012) and once unofficially. This last applies to Censor Must Die. Despite their own official conclusion citing a legal clause governing news reportage that the film is exempted from the censorship process "because it has been made from events that really happened," the censors have threatened to sue any theatre that releases the film to the public. In addition, both films have been subjected to a smear campaign by the aforementioned international lobbyists who strive to paint them as "royalist propaganda" and even "Ku Klux Klan hate speech"! The films themselves are proof of my truthful intentions. But this defense was denied me since their efforts have ensured that the films would not be seen. Very big thanks as well as deep respect are due, therefore, to the independent, courageous people behind the Southeast Asian Film Festival, who have made it possible at last for me to say: see the films for yourself.

The Southeast Asian Film Festival runs from April 11 to May 4 in the Moving Image Gallery of the Singapore Art Museum.

Top 10 Thai films of 2013

Slickly commercial horror thrillers and comedies, among them the record-setting blockbuster Pee Mak Phra Khanong, were the dominant force of 2013 and made for an entertaining year.

But the joy was balanced by documentaries and indie productions such as Boundary and Tang Wong, which offered sobering commentary on contemporary Thai society and politics.

Furthermore, politics and censorship left marks on two documentaries, Boundary and Paradoxocracy, and were directly addressed in a third, Censor Must Die.

Looking back, here’s 10 films that made 2013 a memorable year.

Tang Wong (ตั้งวง)

What’s it about? Four Bangkok schoolboys pray for success in their various endeavours at a spirit house. In return, they must fulfil a vow by performing a traditional Thai dance, which they know little about. A transgender dancer tries to teach them.

Who directed it? Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, the veteran screenwriter-director who made his debut as an “indie” filmmaker last year with the critically acclaimed P-047.

Why’s it good? Tang Wong has a refreshingly pessimistic view of contemporary Thai culture. While other teen comedies bubble with idealised optimism, Tang Wong doesn’t shy away from the harsh reality that cultural traditions are in a constant state of flux, influenced by technological advances and globalisation. Kongdej keeps things grounded, setting the action in a lower-middle-class apartment block, where life is an uphill struggle. And Thailand’s political problems also colour Tang Wong, with the backdrop being the 2010 red-shirt anti-government protests.

Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy

What’s it about? The tweets of a schoolgirl, 410 of them to be exact, are fashioned into a teen comedy following the ups-and-downs of Mary and her best friend as they work on their school’s yearbook.

Who directed it? Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, who continues to innovate after making his feature debut last year with the award-winning experimental romance 36. Mary was a low-budget project generated out of the Venice Biennale College – Cinema.

Why’s it good? On an ultra-low budget and with an interesting cast of characters, Nawapol has succeeded in creating a fantastically entertaining and weird little world out of snippets from our fleeting digital conscious.

Boundary (ฟ้าต่ำแผ่นดินสูง, Fahtum Pandinsoong)

What’s it about? The Cambodian border conflict around Preah Vihear temple is the main focus for this documentary that also surveys the colour-coded political divide in Thai society.

Who directed it? Nontawat Numbenchapol, making his feature debut with “Boundary”, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Why’s it good? With an artful, observational style, Nontawat takes a snapshot of a timely, complex issue. Though it was well received in Berlin, at home the director had to overcome censorship issues, and his film was initially banned when he sought a commercial release. After an outcry in the social media and coverage in the international press, the ban was rescinded. But the film’s political subject caused Thailand’s Major Cineplex movie chain to have second thoughts about showing it. In the end, Nontawat had to make his limited release even more limited as he hired out the theatres and sold tickets himself, shepherding the film around the country.

Censor Must Die (เซ็นเซอร์ต้องตาย)

What’s it about? Filmmakers chronicle their efforts to appeal against the banning of their controversial and politically tinged Macbeth adaptation, Shakespeare Must Die.

Who directed it? Ing K., with producer Manit Sriwanichpoom.

Why’s it good? While on the long side, as Ing’s films tend to be, Censor Must Die is an important and instructive look at the Culture Ministry and its role in administering a brand-new bureaucracy – the film-ratings board that was created by the Film and Video Act of 2007-08. Censor Must Die hasn’t been banned, but in a paradoxically non-committal ruling, the censors said “Censor Must Die is exempted from the film censorship process ... because [it is] made ... from events that really happened.” However, it wasn’t given a rating that would clear it for commercial release. nonetheless, Ing and Manit gave it a limited one-week run in Bangkok at a new private cinema, the Friese-Greene Club, which opened this past year.

Prachatiptai (ประชาธิป'ไทย), a.k.a. Paradoxocracy

What’s it about? Featuring interviews with academics and activists, this documentary covers the history and paradoxes of Thai democracy since the establishment of the constitutional monarchy in 1932.

Who directed it? Well-known filmmaker Pen-ek Ratanaruang and former A day magazine editor Pasakorn Pramoolwong. Thailand’s continuing political crisis spurred them into finding out for themselves why things are so messed up and confusing.

Why’s it good? In a relaxed, conversational tone, academics and activists patiently explain the history of Thai politics and the cycle of coups replacing democratic rule with dictatorships. The film was censored, with a few words about the monarchy muted out. But it was given a G rating and cleared for commercial release. However, during the film’s initial run at Paragon and Esplanade, the theatre chain removed it from the schedule, making it difficult for viewers to determine if it was indeed showing. Happily, there was a later limited release at House cinema, and now it’s out English-subtitled DVD.

Last Summer (ฤดูร้อนนั้น ฉันตาย, Rue Doo Ron Nan Chan Tai)

What’s it about? High-schoolers are haunted by the spirit of a classmate, a star pupil who died during a weekend of partying at a beach house.

Who directed it? Kittithat Tangsirikit, Sittisiri Mongkolsiri and Saranyoo Jiralak each helmed different segments of the story, which was scripted by Kongdej Jaturanrasmee. The first release by a new film shingle, Talent One, producers included industry veterans Rutaiwan Wongsirasawad and Pimpaka Towira, with further behind-the-scenes help from indie film figures Aditya Assarat, Soros Sukhum and Pawas Sawatchaiyamet as line producers.

Why’s it good? Indie filmmakers who are better known for their slow-moving arthouse dramas proved they can craft a cracking horror thriller that’s as slick as anything put out by the big studios. It’s also notable for strong performances by the two more-experienced of the young cast, actor Jirayu La-ongmanee and actress Sutatta Udomsilp. They usually play more-wholesome teens, so it’s refreshing to see them rise to the occasion of portraying darker, flawed characters.

Pee Mak Phra Khanong (พี่มาก...พระโขนง)

What’s it about? It’s the classic ghost story of Mae Nak Phra Khanong – husband Mak returns home from war to his loving wife and newborn child. But he doesn’t know that she’s a ghost, having died giving birth to a stillborn baby. The tragic tale is given a comic spin as Mak’s four war bumbling war buddies try in vain to clue him in.

Who directed it? Banjong Pisanthanakun, co-director of the GTH studio’s immensely successful horror thrillers Shutter and Alone and director of the hit romantic comedy Hello Stranger.

Why’s it good? Banjong and his co-writer Chantavit Thanasevi put a fresh twist on a ghost legend that’s been told dozens of times already. It’s the usual historic setting of a hundred or so years ago and hits all the expected story beats, but is updated with contemporary comic references. But more than being hilarious, there’s real heart and sweetness to the romance, which is lifted by appealing turns from Mario Maurer as Mak and especially Davika Hoorne as the powerful ghost wife. They are well supported by Nattapong Chartpong, Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasuk, Pongsatorn Jongwilak and Wiwat Kongrasri, the quartet of actors from Banjong’s comedic contributions to GTH’s Phobia horror compilations. Further polish on the production comes from art director Arkadech Keawkotr, who also was the set designer on Nonzee Nimibutr’s version of the tale, 1999’s Nang Nak. Everything clicked into place and Pee Mak proved to be a winner at the box office, earning more than Bt500 million to beat the 12-year-old record held by Suriyothai. GTH estimates it’s earned more than Bt1 billion, which may or may not include revenue from releases all across Southeast Asia and other Asian territories.

Thongsuk 13 (ทองสุก 13, a.k.a. Long Weekend)

What’s it about? Teenagers head to an isolated island for a weekend of merriment. They are met there by the disabled classmate they hoped to leave behind, and the savant is in turn possessed by evil spirits who pick the kids off one by one.

Who directed it? Taweewat Wantha, director of the genre-blending zombie comedy SARS Wars and the sci-fi comedy The Sperm. Long Weekend was the first release from a new company called Wave Pictures, with veteran producer Adirek “Uncle” Watleela among the guiding hands.

Why’s it good? Taweewat’s trademark outrageousness is toned down only a bit for this slasher-thriller. Just when you think things can’t get any crazier, they do. In a memorable turn, Cheeranat Yusanon emerges as the film’s heroine, and it’s her character’s lifelong friendship with the disabled kid Thongsuk (Chinnawut Intarakusin) that gives the story emotional depth.

The Cop (สารวัตรหมาบ้า, Sarawat Maa Baa)

What’s it about? A hard-driving, hard-drinking “mad dog” cop investigates the murder of a government minister’s daughter while a figure from his past aims to cause him more trouble.

Who directed it? MR Chalermchatri “Adam” Yukol, son of veteran director MC Chatrichalerm Yukol, making his feature directorial debut.

Why’s it good? In a year dominated by horror, horror-comedies, documentaries and indie dramas, “The Cop” provided a welcome change of pace with gritty police-procedural action. Somchai Khemklad is perfectly cast as the hot-headed police inspector, supported by veteran comedian Note Chernyim as his cooler-headed world-weary partner and fresh-faced actress Krystal Vee as a rookie lieutenant with a hidden agenda. Unfortunately, The Cop received only minimal marketing support and didn’t exactly set the box office on fire – I’m not even sure it registered on the charts. Hopefully that won’t deter Adam from directing another feature.

Oh! My Ghost Khun Phee Chuay (โอ้! มายโกสต์ คุณผีช่วย a.k.a. OMG!)

What’s it about? A talent-show contestant (Sudarat “Tukky” Butrprom) gets hair extensions and is haunted by the spirit of her new hair’s former owner – a dancer-model (Cris Horwang) who seeks Tukky’s help in patching things up with her old boyfriend.

Who directed it? Puttipong Promsakha Na Sakon Nakhon, co-director of the 2011 cult-hit teen romance First Love and director of last year’s romantic comedy 30+ Singles on Sale.

Why’s it good? The initial appeal is in the pairing of diminutive cherub Tukky with the lithe and long-limbed actress-model Cris. Lifted by the unlikely pair’s easy chemistry, the ghost comedy sticks to a script that clears the way for Tukky to show off her considerable comic talents, playing an essentially ordinary northeasterner trying to make it in Bangkok.

See also:

• Thailand on the big screen [The Nation]

(Cross-published in The Nation)

On DVD in Thailand: Paradoxocracy

Paradoxocracy (ประชาธิป'ไทย, Prachatiptai), Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Pasakorn Pramoolwong's documentary on the paradoxes of Thai democracy, has been released on DVD in Thailand.

It's a limited-release two-disc set, with the package adding deleted scenes, a music video and a poster. Oh, and it has English subtitles, which hardly ever happens with DVD releases in Thailand. It's available at Boomerang, B2S and other retailers.

The film, which interviews around a dozen academics and activists, surveys Thai contemporary politics since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, was back in cinemas last month during the 40th anniversary of the October 14, 1973 student uprising.

It was originally released on a limited run in Bangkok in June and July, but was poorly handled by a cinema that apparently didn't want people to see it.

Shakespeare Must Die wins in Tripoli

Banned in Thailand, Ing K.'s Macbeth adaptation Shakespeare Must Die  (เชคสเปียร์ต้องตาย, Shakespeare Tong Tai), is finding its way onto the big screen in other countries, most recently winning the Grand Prize in Fiction and NETPAC Prize at the inaugural Tripoli International Film Festival in Lebanon.

The NETPAC Prize, from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema, was shared with Liberta by Kan Lume.

Shakespeare Must Die, which is a political satire, has been banned on the grounds that it is a "threat to national unity".

The banning of the film was extensively covered in a followup documentary by Ing K. and her producer Manit Sriwanichpoom, Censor Must Die.

Shakespeare Must Die previously screened overseas at last year's Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival.

No love for To Singapore, with Love at World Film Festival of Bangkok

Lack of "necessary permissions" are being cited as the official reason for the 11th World Film Festival of Bangkok dropping To Singapore, with Love from its program.

The politically sensitive documentary by Singaporean filmmaker Tan Pin Pin interviews Singaporean exiles, some who haven't been back to their country in 50 years.

One of the exiles was staying in Thailand, but the film shoot wasn't cleared beforehand with the Thailand Film Board.

Here's the official statement from the festival website:

We regret that To Singapore, with Love by Tan Pin Pin has been withdrawn from the 11th World Film Festival of Bangkok. The reason we have been given is that the film was not submitted to the Thai Film Board prior to shooting on location in Thailand. Films selected by us have been similarly withdrawn in previous years. We are deeply sorry for this and thank you for your understanding. – Kriengsak Silakong, Festival Director

Tan Pin Pin issued a response on the film's Facebook page:

We are regretful that the World Film Festival of Bangkok has decided to withdraw To Singapore, with Love from the Festival. It was an oversight on our part not to have gotten the necessary permissions from Thai Film Board to shoot in Thailand. We were informed only the day before that one of the exiles had passed away and so had to travel to Betong immediately for the funeral. We hope to make the necessary applications and eventually screen in Thailand. - Tan Pin Pin, director and producer, To Singapore, with Love

To Singapore, with Love premiered earlier this year in the Wide Angle documentary competition at the Busan International Film Festival.

I suppose it seems like every other year or so the World Film Festival of Bangkok runs afoul of Thai bureaucrats over one film or another, but I guess the last incident I remember was in 2009, when Thunska Pansittivorakul's This Area Is Under Quarantine was banned.

Featuring many Thai highlights that are not banned, the 11th World Film Festival of Bangkok runs from November 16 to 24 at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld.

Special Bangkok screenings for P, Censor Must Die and It Gets Better

Two films by filmmakers who have been banned and another film that's never been screened publicly in Thailand will be shown next week in Bangkok.

First off, filmmaker Paul Spurrier celebrates this Thursday's Halloween at his private cinema, The Friese Greene-Club, with a rare treat – a special screening of his 2005 horror film P, in which a dancer at a Soi Cowboy go-go bar uses black magic to upstage the others.

Weirdly, the film has never been screened publicly in Thailand, though it was released on Blu-ray a few years ago. There's a reason why P never unspooled in Thai cinemas, but I think it's a story best told by Paul himself while you enjoy a tasty beverage at the bar in his club. Anyway, this Halloween will be the film's Thai premiere.

Shows start at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. With just nine seats, the screening room fills up fast, so please check the website to make bookings.

Next week, from November 5 to 9, the Friese-Greene Club will host special screenings of Censor Must Die, the documentary by Ing K. that deals with the banning of her previous film, Shakespeare Must Die. It's an instructive look at a brand-new Thai bureaucracy – the Culture Ministry's Film and Video Board and its film-ratings system.

Though the movie has been cleared for public screenings, Ing K. is still being a bit cagey about it, so the screenings are for card-carrying FGC members only. Membership at the moment is free. If you're not yet a member, you just need to get down to the club and put your name in the book 24 hours before you plan to see the movie. Also, for this movie, there is an admission price: 150 baht.

Next Monday, November 4, The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand screens It Gets Better (ไม่ได้ขอให้มารั, Mai Dai Kor Hai Ma Rak) by Tanwarin Sukkhapisit.

It's the followup to her debut feature, Insects in the Backyard, which was banned for its frank depictions of sexuality and sex acts. It Gets Better takes a broader, more-commercially appealing approach to addressing the issues of sexuality and gender.

The top nominee at the Subhanahongsa Awards this year, the movie is structured in three segments that increasingly intertwine. One story deals with a fiftysomething post-op ladyboy (played by actress Penpak Sirikul) who is touring around a small town in Thailand's scenic north. Another part deals with a young man who returns to Thailand after the death of his father and discovers his dad ran a ladyboy cabaret in Pattaya. He finds himself falling for one of the bar's staff. And the third story is about an effeminate young man who is shipped off to the monkhood after his father discovers him dressing up in his mother's clothes.

Tanwarin will be present at the FCCT for a post-screening question-and-answer session. Entry for non-members is 150 baht plus 100 baht more for anyone wanting to sip the wines provided by Village Farm and Winery. The showtime is 8pm.

Paradoxocracy returns

If you missed Paradoxocracy (ประชาธิป'ไทย, Prachathiptai) (and it's very possible you did) when it was released for a limited run in Bangkok in June, you now have another chance to catch it.

House on RCA has it listed on their schedule in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the October 14, 1973 student uprising against a military dictatorship.

Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Pasakorn Pramoolwong, the documentary gathers together a dozen or so academics who talk about the tumultuous times constitutional monarchy was put in place in 1932. Frank and sometimes funny, it's censored in a couple of places. If you're interested at all in Thai politics, hurry on over to House and catch it while you can.

Paradoxocracy will also screen at 1pm on Sunday, October 13, at the Thai Film Archive as part of a program that features two other documentaries, Ngao Prawat Sart (The Shadow of History) by Panu Aree and Octoblur (Lom Tulakom) by Patana Chirawong.

Censor Must Die won't be censored

Here's a news release from Manit Sriwanichpoom, producer of the banned film Shakespeare Must Die (เชคสเปียร์ต้องตาย, Shakespeare Tong Tai) and the companion documentary Censor Must Die (เซ็นเซอร์ต้องตาย), which chronicles his and his wife and director Ing K.'s exhaustive efforts to appeal against the ban.

This very day, even as the online community is seething over the government’s increasingly intense scrutiny and persecution of social media users, even as the police is requesting co-operation from Line, the popular smartphone chat app, to let them monitor its users to prevent threats to national security, we have unbelievable good news for freedom of expression in Thailand from the most unlikely quarter: the Film Censors.

Last year the Film Censorship Committee and the National Film Board banned the horror film, Shakespeare Must Die, a Thai adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.  Accordingly, since we are filmmakers, we recorded the whole banning process and our fight against the ban, from the Censors’ Office to the Film Board, to the National Human Rights Commission and the Senate House Committee on Human Rights, all the way to the Administrative Court. This has resulted in the documentary Censor Must Die.

Recently, as required by law, this new film was submitted to the censors. This morning we received a letter by post, document # Ministry of Culture 0508.2/6058 (Thai original and English translation in the attached files) from the Department of Cultural Promotion to inform the result of their deliberation: “Censor Must Die is exempted from the film censorship process and has been given permission from the Film and Video Censorship Committee, by the power of the 2008 Royal Edict on Film and Video, Article 27(1)”, because “the producer of Censor Must Die made the film from events that really happened.”

Furthermore, due to this exemption from censorship, Censor Must Die has not been rated and may be seen by anyone of any age.

For us, the filmmakers, this is like winning the lottery. We can’t stop smiling. It’s a great relief that we won’t have to repeat the arduous process of appeal that we went through and are still going through with Shakespeare Must Die. We must thank the censors for their brilliant broadmindedness.  I hope this precedence-setting decision will help to bring a more optimistic future for Thai cinema.

In the case of Shakespeare Must Die, both the National Human Rights Commission and the Senate House Human Rights Committee have concluded that the 2008 film law should be amended. The NHRC further recommends that the ban on the film should be lifted, as the ban infringed our right to freedom of expression. The case against the Censors and the Film Board is progressing in Administrative Court.

Respectfully,

Manit Sriwanichpoom

Producer

Shakespeare Must Die and Censor Must Die

The reference to the "smartphone chat app" is in regard to the Royal Thai Police moves to monitor Line.

The news that Censor Must Die won't be censored and that it's apparently exempt from the ratings process because it's "made from events that really happened" is interesting and might perhaps encourage other documentary filmmakers in Thailand.

But there's not yet any word of when Censor Must Die might be shown in cinemas, which might be difficult given the recent experience of other politically sensitive documentaries, Paradoxocracy by Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Pasakorn Pramoolwong and Boundary by Nontawat Numbenchapol, which were both passed after changes were ordered by censors, but then ran into problems during their theatrical release.

The Hollywood Reporter has more on Censors [sic] Must Die.

Boundary returns to Bangkok for shorter-than-planned run

Step right up. Nontawat hawks tickets at the EGV in Khon Kaen. Photo via Facebook.

Indie director Nontawat Numbenchapol had originally planned a more-extensive Thai release for Boundary (ฟ้าต่ำแผ่นดินสูง, Fahtum Pandinsoong), his embattled documentary on the Thai-Cambodian border conflict.

But he had to scale things back thanks to a conflict that arose with another politically sensitive film, Paradoxocracy, which Major Cineplex came under pressure for showing and actually discouraged customers from seeing.

In order to show his film, Nontawat had renegotiate with the theater chain. Under a new, unusual arrangement, he's had pay out of his pocket to hire out the hall and has been selling tickets himself as he shepherded the film around to screenings upcountry in Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Udon Thani. Weeklong screenings had been planned, but under the new deal with Major, he cut back the schedule to just a weekend in each city.

The Bangkok release runs for only four days at Esplanade Cineplex Ratchadaphisek. Showtimes are at 7 nightly from Thursday until Sunday. For more details, see the movie's Facebook page.

What happened to Paradoxocracy?

Pen-ek Ratanaruang makes a point. Photo via The Nation.

Prachatipthai (ประชาธิป'ไทย, a.k.a. Paradoxocracy), Pen-ek Rattanaruang and Pasakorn Pramoolwong's documentary on Thai contemporary politics, wrapped up a confusing run in Bangkok cinemas last Monday.

Debuting on June 24, the 81st anniversary of the establishment of the constitutional monarchy, Paradoxocracy's release was marked from the beginning by paranoia and fear. Rumors were that it might be pulled from cinemas. Even though it had been passed by censors with a couple of parts muted, the rumors had it that various interests were pressuring the Major Cineplex chain for allowing the film in its theaters.

Paradoxocracy was initially scheduled to screen from June 24 to July 10, twice a day at Paragon Cineplex and Esplanade Cineplex Ratchadaphisek. That schedule was eventually cut back to July 3 by the filmmakers. I don't know why.

On the Major Cineplex website and on its mobile app, the film was listed as having English subtitles at both locations, however on a visit to Esplanade on June 25, there was no indication of English subs at the ticket counter, and I asked the counter worker to confirm that. She did, but I didn't see the screening there myself so I can't confirm if no subs was indeed the case. Anyway, the version screened at Paragon had subs.

Later in the week, Paradoxocracy disappeared from the listings on Major's website and app. I called Paragon to check on that, and the man who answered said there were no screenings, but said there were at Esplanade (which may or may not have had subtitles).

According to some co-workers, the film had "sold out", so Major removed it from its website for the day. The listing was back a day later.

In his Saturday column, Bangkok Post film critic Kong Rithdee details the shenanigans further:

All seemed fine, the cinemas were surprisingly packed, and "political movies" no longer looked like an endangered species in Thai cinema. But something bizarre happened last weekend when the cinema chain, according to many eyewitnesses, seemed to be trying to discourage people from seeing the film. At Paragon, they took the movie off the LCD showtime board, and if you called, the staff would give you confusing answers, such as the film wasn't showing, or may be showing, or, as happened on Sunday, "someone" had booked the entire cinema. All of this even though the film was showing as originally announced. This must be one of the few times in history that a cinema committed "demarketing", flirted with censorship, and offered a case of head-scratching paradox – a movie house persuading people not to see a movie. Conspiracy theories were rampant.

On the movie's Facebook page, Passakorn offered his thanks to all who supported Paradoxocracy, and vowed to continue the project. He raised the possibility that there will be more screenings in the provinces, but I am not sure that will happen, unless the filmmakers strike a similar deal that indie filmmaker Nontawat Numbenchapol had to make to screen his own politically sensitive documentary Boundary, and rent out a cinema hall and sell the tickets themselves.

Update, July 8: The Hollywood Reporter has an interview with Pen-ek and Passakorn.

National Human Rights Commission weighs in on Shakespeare Must Die

In their bid to fight the ban of Shakespeare Must Die (เชคสเปียร์ต้องตาย, Shakespeare Tong Tai), filmmakers Ing K. and Manit Sriwanichpoom, took their case to the National Human Rights Commission, an effort exhaustively recorded in their documentary Censor Must Die (เซ็นเซอร์ต้องตาย).

Last week, the NHRC's findings were released, with a translation provided by the filmmakers. The full document is available here and the original Thai document has been scanned on posted on the film's blog. Here's an excerpt:

The rationale behind the National Board of Film and Video’s order to ban the film, namely their order [and the filmmakers’ refusal] to cut the scene featuring the events of October 6, 1976, a historical event well-known to the general public, [that their decision to ban the whole film came] solely from objection to this one scene, is insignificant and without substance. Therefore, the National Board of Film and Video used its power to issue a banning order on Shakespeare Must Die without being able to offer supportive justification for such restriction of freedom.  They could not cite scenes and dialogues to explain the necessity to limit freedom of opinion and expression to protect the rights and reputation of others, or for the preservation of national security and the protection of public peace and order and good morality. Instead, their order to ban the entire film outright is an act of infringement of freedom of opinion and expression by the producers of the film Shakespeare Must Die.

So the ban stems from the filmmaker's refusal to cut a scene depicting an iconic image from the October 1976 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations.

Further, the NHRC pointed out problems with the Film and Video Act of 2008, "a law that restricts freedom of expression as enshrined in the Constitution of the Thai Kingdom, 2007".

Kong Rithdee covers the matter further in his Saturday column in the Bangkok Post.

The NHRC's opinion is not legally binding, though I believe the filmmakers can use it to back up their court case, since they have filed a lawsuit against the censorship committee. But through its official findings, the human rights agency has confirmed what a lot of media scholars have already emphasised: at present, the "pre-crime" paranoia rooted in the Cold War years (or sci-fi delusion) that authorises the censoring of media prior to its broadcast or publication is only applied to film. Newspapers, radio stations, TV channels and even websites do not have to submit their content to state inspection before going to print or on air, but movies have to. That's unjust at best and primordial at worst, given the democratisation of media on the airwaves, cable TV and the internet. The view that movies are the are the most dangerous media is baffling. Isn't what's being said every day on colour-coded TV, for instance, far more inflammatory?

Boundary opens under unusual conditions

A forlorn Nontawat sells tickets at his table in the Major Cineplex Airport Plaza lobby. Photo via Facebook.

Boundary has started a limited run in Thai cinemas that almost didn't happen.

Nontawat Numbenchapol's controversial documentary on the Thai-Cambodian border conflict was set to have its official Thai premiere for press and VIPs on Monday at Esplanade Cineplex Ratchada when it appeared it might be cancelled.

Apparently, Major Cineplex, having agreed to screen Boundary in its theaters, had second thoughts, given the film's sensitive political topic.

After some discussion, Nontawat struck a new deal with Major that would still let him show the film, but he'd have to handle ticket sales himself – an unusual situation that means extra hassles for the young indie filmmaker.

"There was a misunderstanding about the press screening at Esplanade Cineplex. Bioscope magazine [as a distributor] and myself rent the theater for screening. The cinema operator itself has no responsibility," Nontawat is quoted as saying in The Nation.

Major Cineplex is also hosting screenings of Passakorn Pramoolwong and Pen-ek Ratanaruang's political documentary Pachatipathai (ประชาธิปไตย, a.k.a. Paradoxocracy).

I've heard rumors that the theater-chain's top brass have come under pressure for showing Pachatipathai – pressure that then led to the change of heart on Boundary. However, many advance tickets for Pachatipathai had been sold through Major's box offices, making it more difficult to pull that film without creating yet another international uproar about the Thai government's censorship.

Pachatipathai has been cleared by censors, who passed it with a G rating. But I suppose it's still possible that the theater chain could come under extralegal pressure to remove it. It's screening at 2 and 8 daily until July 10 at Paragon Cineplex (with English subtitles) and Esplanade Ratchada (no subs when I checked on Tuesday).

Boundary attained its 18+ rating only after a confusing go-round with the Film and Video sub-committee that initially banned it but then unbanned it. So this latest episode only adds to the film's mystique.

After it wraps up its run at Major Cineplex Airport Plaza in Chiang Mai on Sunday, Boundary (ฟ้าต่ำแผ่นดินสูง, Fahtum Pandinsoong) moves to the EGV Tesco Lotus in Khon Kaen on July 6 and 7 and then Major Cineplex Udon Thani on July 13 and 14. It's scheduled to return to Bangkok on July 18 for a run at the Esplanade Cineplex Ratchada.

Check the movie's Facebook page for details on booking tickets.

Pen-ek's Paradoxocracy comes to cinemas on Monday

Paradoxocracy (ประชาธิปไตย, Pachatipathai), Pen-ek Ratanaruang's much-anticipated documentary on Thai politics, opens in Bangkok cinemas on Monday, June 24, the 81st anniversary of Thailand becoming a constitutional monarchy.

The limited run lasts until July 10, with screenings at 2 and 8pm daily at Paragon Cineplex and Esplanade Cineplex Ratchada.

On Paradoxocracy, Pen-ek collaborates with Pasakorn Pramoolwong, formerly of A Day magazine, to cover Thailand's contemporary political history. The film is a mix of archive footage, narration and interviews with various academics and activists, surveying the tumultuous times since the constitutional monarchy was established in 1932.

Paradoxocracy was submitted to censors and had a few cuts ordered. In a bold and interesting move, no footage was actually cut, but words or phrases deemed inappropriate by censors have been muted and subtitles crossed out so you'll at least see that there's censorship going on. And, if you can read lips (in Thai), you still might understand what's being said.

By accounts I've seen of the film, in the Bangkok Post and The Nation, it's classic Pen-ek, bearing the same sly humor you'll find in his fictional features.

The trailer is embedded in a previous post, but you can also watch it on YouTube.

Boundary sets Thai release, in Yamagata competition

Boundary, the controversial documentary on the Thai-Cambodian border dispute and Thailand's red-and-yellow political divide, will tour the Kingdom this month and next.

Along with getting a snazzy new poster, Nontawat Numbenchapol's film has also been picked up for the competition at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in October.

In Thailand, Boundary's tour starts on June 27 at the Major Cineplex Airport Plaza in Chiang Mai, where it runs until July 3. It'll then move to the EGV Tesco Lotus in Khon Kaen from July 4 to 10, Major Cineplex Udon Thani from July 11 to 17 and then finish up at the Esplanade Cineplex Ratchada in Bangkok from July 18 onwards.

Boundary premiered earlier this year at the Berlin International Film Festival and then screened in Thailand as part of the Salaya International Documentary Film Festival. Nontawat then submitted it to be rated for a commercial release. The ratings sub-committee initially deemed it too politically sensitive and banned it, but then two days later the bureaucrats admitted they'd made a mistake – a historic moment in Thai government – and allowed Boundary to be released with only a bit of censorship.

But even though Boundary was not banned after all, the incident spurred other filmmakers into action and breathed new life into the Free Thai Cinema Movement, headed up by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Al-Jazeera covers all that in a recent news segment (embedded below).

Review: Censor Must Die

• Directed by Ing K.
• Screened on June 1, 2013 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center
• Wise Kwai's rating: 4/5

Censors may not get past the title of the latest documentary by provocative filmmakers Ing K. and Manit Sriwanichpoom.

Nonetheless, Censor Must Die (เซ็นเซอร์ต้องตาย) is a comprehensive look at the controversial duo's fight to screen their Macbeth adaptation Shakespeare Must Die. It's been banned by censors who feared was too divisive and posed a threat to national security.

At 2.5 hours, Censor Must Die is an exhaustive and instructive behind-the-scenes look at a brand-new bureaucracy, which was created by the Culture Ministry to support the new film-ratings system that came into effect in 2009. While new law did away with the broad brush of old-fashioned censorship, instead offering age advisories to audiences, it retained a vestige of the old authoritarian ways – the provision to outright ban a film.

Shakespeare was hit with the ban because of politics, though no one will come right out and admit it. It's the story of a theater troupe attempting to stage Macbeth. They run into conflict with the megalomaniacal leader of their fictional land. He is widely assumed to resemble Thailand's ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The film had been funded by the Culture Ministry under a scheme of the government that eventually replaced the junta that threw out Thaksin. But by the time Shakespeare Must Die got around to be submitted to censors, Thaksin's sister had been swept into power by the populist "red shirt" movement.

Shakespeare has been blocked at every step of the process, even though the bureaucrats applaud the film itself and its translation of the Bard's words.

Ing K.'s camera mainly follows Manit around as he shuffles from office to office and plays the waiting game. Eventually, the paper trail takes them to the Culture Ministry, a bizarre place where for some reason people are sitting around in the lobby, waiting their turn for something. It's like they are in a public hospital or a bus station.

As a surreal, Orwellian aside, there's MiniCult video playing in the lobby, which instructs Thais how to properly sit.

At one point, Manit and Ing K. are riding in their car and are caught in a traffic jam. This gives them time to discuss their case. And, coincidentally, they happen to be stuck in the roundabout at Democracy Monument, which symbolizes the Thai Constitution.

At another point, the film switches to audio of Ing K. testifying before a Senate sub-committee. She breaks down into tears, bawling as she wonders why it's only filmmakers who are persecuted and denied the freedom of speech that's accorded under the Constitution.

Although not yet cleared for theatrical release, Censor Must Die was shown on June 1 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center as part of the Freedom on Film seminar organized by the Free Thai Cinema Movement.




See also:

• Freedom on the big screen [The Nation]

Related posts:

• Free Thai Cinema Movement returns with Freedom on Film

Free Thai Cinema Movement returns with Freedom on Film

Enacted in 2009, the Thai Film and Video Act replaced an antiquated 80-year-old censorship regime for Thai films. It instituted a film-ratings system that was supposed to make things better but instead made things worse for filmmakers, especially independent directors.

Under the new system, the process of getting official clearance to release movies has been made even murkier, with the bureaucracy of censorship banning two films, the sexually explicit Insects in the Backyard and the political satire Shakespeare Must Die. A third film, the Thai-Cambodian border documentary Boundary, was initially banned but then, after a bit of confusion, was cleared for release with the condition that it be edited to mute out an incidental reference to His Majesty the King.

Following the Boundary episode, there has been a resurgence of the Free Thai Cinema Movement, which started in 2007 to protest the Film and Video Act that at the time was being railroaded through the post-coup rubber-stamp Parliament.

Filmmakers are now taking to Facebook to post Instagram-type photos of themselves along with quotes and the movement's "No Cut, No Ban" logo, calling for an end to the banning and censorship.

According to Shakespeare Must Die co-director Manit Sriwanichpoom, the movement "is an attempt to organize ourselves, do away with the censors and regulate ourselves as the [Thai] TV people have the right to do."

On Saturday, June 1, from 1 to 6.30 in the fifth-floor auditorium at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center, the Freedom on Film event will beging with a screening of a new 2.5-hour documentary on censorship. That will be followed by panel discussions with filmmakers, legal experts and rights advocates.

Panellists will include Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who fought a lengthy battle with scissor-wielding censors over his 2006 feature Syndromes and a Century, which was eventually released in Bangkok with the censored scenes replaced with black, scratched film leader.

Others will include Prachya Pinkaew (Ong-Bak), Nonzee Nimibutr (Nang Nak), Pantham Thongsang (Ai-Fak), Tanwarin Sukkhapisit (Insects in the Backyard) and Nontawat Numbenchapol (Boundary).

The panel talk will be in Thai with no translator, but the film has English subtitles.

The event is organized by the Film Department of Kasem Bundit University with participants including iLaw, the Thai Film Director's Association and the Free Thai Cinema Movement.

Check the Facebook events page for more details.