The 23rd Short Film and Video Festival, Thailand’s longest-running annual film festival, begins on 14th December. This year’s event includes two films that were previously censored in Thailand: Birth of Golden Snail (กำเนิดหอยทากทอง) and Syndromes and a Century (แสงศตวรรษ).
The seemingly arbitrary censorship of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Syndromes and a Century was the catalyst for the Free Thai Cinema Movement’s campaign for film classification. The campaign was successful, as the Film and Video Act introduced a rating system, though it was a rather Pyrrhic victory, as films continued to be cut and banned.
Chulayarnnon Siriphol’s Birth of Golden Snail was banned under the Film and Video Act, though the ban was legally questionable. The film was rejected by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC), though the Act specifies that responsibility for censorship lies with the Film and Video Censorship Committee (which had not viewed the film) rather than the OCAC. Birth of Golden Snail received its premiere in Singapore last month.
Birth of Golden Snail will be shown as part of the Short Film and Video Festival’s opening programme on 14th December, and Syndromes and a Century will be screened on 16th December. Both screenings will be in 35mm, at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya.
The seemingly arbitrary censorship of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Syndromes and a Century was the catalyst for the Free Thai Cinema Movement’s campaign for film classification. The campaign was successful, as the Film and Video Act introduced a rating system, though it was a rather Pyrrhic victory, as films continued to be cut and banned.
Chulayarnnon Siriphol’s Birth of Golden Snail was banned under the Film and Video Act, though the ban was legally questionable. The film was rejected by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC), though the Act specifies that responsibility for censorship lies with the Film and Video Censorship Committee (which had not viewed the film) rather than the OCAC. Birth of Golden Snail received its premiere in Singapore last month.
Birth of Golden Snail will be shown as part of the Short Film and Video Festival’s opening programme on 14th December, and Syndromes and a Century will be screened on 16th December. Both screenings will be in 35mm, at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya.
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