( For the week from June July 20 - 26, 2002 )
| News 1… |
The annual general meeting of the Federation of National Film Associations on Wednesday, July 31st at Ballroon A., The Emerald Hotel, Rachadapisek Road, will begin at 2 p.m. During the meeting, an election of the new president of the federation will be held as well as elections of the general and profession-specific members of the executive committee. Afterwards, there will be a thank-you party for all attended members and journalists.
| News 2… |
“The Eye”, the latest work of Thailand-based Hong Kong director Oxide Pang, is scheduled for release on August 9th. This film is being talked about a lot as it has been been reported Hollywood’s top star Tom Cruise had shown his interest in buying its script for a remake. Also its distribution rights have been sold to at least 20 countries, and, earlier, when the picture was shown in Hong Kong and Singapore, it was a box-office hit. Because of these successes, it is reported there will be a sequel of “The Ey! e” and that the director is writing its script.
| News 3… |
The release of “Three”, the film that results from the efforts of three-country directors, has met with success. Since it was opened in Bangkok theaters on last July 12th, it has grossed more than 30 million baht and after this weekend its total take could reach 50 million. A celebration has already been planned, and it is to be held at the Hilton Nai Lert Park Hotel on this coming Tuesday. Attending the party, besides Thai director Nonsee Nimibutr, will be two other collaborators Kim Je Woon from Korea and Peter Chan from Hong Kong. In two weeks “Three” will be released in these countries.
| News 4… |
The chairman of India’s film censorship board has resigned following the Government’s rejection of his proposal to allow pornographic films to be shown legally in the country. Mr. Vijay Anand, who had been one of the prominent Indian producers, was appointed to the position only last September. His proposal, which would also ! cover movies intended for television broadcast, called for the board to accept all pornographic films for scrutiny and afterwards given own rating. Later they must be screened only in designated theaters. Currently, India is suffering from the widespread of pornographic pictures. Throughout the country, they can be seen in theaters during the so-called “morning show”. And the strict censorship has also affected Indian movie production at the time when there is a campaign to promote its export. One oft-cited case is “Karma Sutra”, directed by Mira Nair, an internationally-known Indian director. The film was cut 40 times by the censors and was one of the reasons for its box-office failure around the world.
