After being banned in Myanmar a month ago, the film ‘Twilight Over Burma’ has also been banned from an upcoming film festival in Bangkok. The festival organizers said the film might endanger Thailand-Myanmar relations.
On Wednesday, 6 July 2016, Matichon Online reported that ‘Twilight Over Burma’, the love story of an ethnic Shan prince and an Austrian woman during a period of political unrest in Myanmar, was removed from the 4th Thailand International Film Destination Festival 2016. The film was previously listed as one of the four movies to be shown in the festival’s opening ceremony.
Matichon Online reported that the film was removed as the organizing team was concerned that it might risk relations between Thailand and Burma. Wannasiri Morakul, Director-General of the Department of Tourism, which is subsidising the event, briefly told Matichon Online that any movie likely to cause problems will not be allowed in the festival.
In addition to ‘Twilight Over Burma’, three other three films, ‘Pattaya’ (2016), ‘Happy Hour in Paradise’ (2015), and ‘Detective Chinatown’ (2016), were also removed from the festival as they allegedly portrayed a negative image of Thailand, Matichon Online reported.
A month earlier, the film was banned from a human rights film festival in Myanmar. The festival’s organizing board reasoned that the film content hurt the image of unity among ethnic groups in Myanmar, BBC Thai reported.
According to BBC Thai, the film features the real story of Inge Sargent, an Austrian, who married Sao Kya Seng, an ethnic Shan prince. Their story covers the 1962 coup in Myanmar when a military regime under Gen Ne Win persecuted ethnic minorities across the country leading to the disappearance of the prince. The film was based on the autobiography of Inge Sargent.
A scence in 'Twilight Over Burma' (source: Matichon Online)
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