Documentary filmmaker Nontawat Nambenjapol told The Nation late yesterday afternoon that his film "Boundary", which was earlier banned by censors, had been cleared for release with an 18+ rating after he agreed to make some changes.
The director said he had agreed to mute the sound during the opening scene, which depicts a New Year's celebration at Ratchaprasong Intersection in which cries of "Let's count down to celebrate HM the King's 84th anniversary" could be heard.The Film and Video Board, attached to the Office of Cultural Promotion, contacted the filmmaker yesterday to apologise for the "technical mistake".
The filmmaker was told that the ban order issued on Tuesday was the decision of a sub-committee that in fact had no authority to issue such a verdict. Only the main committee has the jurisdiction to do so. When members of the main committee saw the film yesterday, they decided to let it pass. Also, before banning any movie, the committee is required to allow its director to defend himself, but that did not happen on Tuesday.
However, the censors asked the director to remove two seconds of ambient sound. The filmmaker said he realised that the sound had no significance to the film and agreed to mute it.
The sub-committee that banned the film cited several inappropriate issues, but the main committee did not object to any of them, Nontawat said. Other than those two seconds of sound, the entire film remains intact.The director said he plans to have his film screened at a Bangkok cinema soon.
"I'm so surprised, but very happy," the director said.
Earlier yesterday before the ban was lifted, Nontawat reiterated that the film, "Fah Tam Phaendin Soong" (Low Sky, High Land), was about the disputed border area between Thailand and Cambodia and had nothing to do with the issue of the monarchy as interpreted by the sub-committee.
He said the film was aimed at fostering peace between the two countries.
Nontawat told Nation TV that the use of the word fah, or sky, in the title was in no way a reference to the monarchy, as the panel believed and cited as one of its reasons for banning the film.
As for the inclusion of interviews with local people on both sides of the border, Nontawat said it was done to convey a message of peaceful co-existence between along the disputed boundary.
The director said the scenes of military clashes were simply downloaded from YouTube. If presenting such scenes cannot be permitted, then why did the Thai authorities not try to block the YouTube videos, he asked.
Earlier, Nontawat appealed the decision to the committee and said he was looking into the possibility of petitioning the Administrative Court.
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/04/26/ban-on-border-film-overturned/
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