Apichatpong Weerasethakul Rallies Support For Online Petition To Free Thai Cinema

Apichatpong Weerasethakul has taken his fight against restrictive Thai censorship laws online in a petition that will later be submitted to the Thai government. The Internet and film community was abuzz this week with the news that the Thai censors wanted to make four cuts to Syndromes And A Century (Sang Satawat) before approving it for general release. See the various reports linked below.

According to the statement in the petition, despite the filmmakers' formal request for the print of the film to be returned and that no appeals will be made, the censorship board said they would only return it if the four cuts are made by the board itself.

After the decision was made by the board, Weerasethakul wrote a statement to the Bangkok Post: "I, a filmmaker, treat my works as my own sons or my daughters. When I conceived them, they have their own lives to live. I don't mind if people are fond of them, or despise them, as long as I created them with my best intentions and efforts. If these offspring of mine cannot live in their own country for whatever reasons, let them be free. Since there are other places that warmly welcome them as who they are, there is no reason to mutilate them from the fear of the system, or from greed. Otherwise there is no reason for one to continue making art.”

The online petition

More details here (in Thai and English)

Variety report on the cuts

Thai Cinema.Org (with Bangkok Post report)