[Column] Distribution regulations are film history’s loss

By Stephen Cremen

Playing theaters in Thailand right now is the fantasy time-travel musical The Possible. It’s the story of an arrogant string combo band in 1969, who have scant regard for the fans who’ve lifted them to their chart-topping heights. Performing at the Phrakanong Cinema, they test out a magical microphone that projects them forward in time. But by 2006, the Phrakanong has tranformed into a porno theater whose elderly patrons don’t appreciate their regular screening being interrupted by these blasts from the past.

The Possible is the latest movie from GTH, a company that has perfected the formula of producing comedies and melodramas that succeed locally yet have qualities that could appeal to a broader Asian audience. Their strongest 2005 title was Dear Dakanda, an endearing love story between a student and a nurse. Within the film, the children’s story of The Little Prince is referenced. But GTH licensed rights from the book’s French publisher in a deal that restricts it from exporting the film.

The Possible isn’t as satisfying as Dear Dakanda. It has a likeable cast, headed by popular rapper Joey Boy, catchy music from the era, evocative production design and a high-concept storyline. But the idea’s potential is never developed in the script. The "G" in GTH stands for Grammy Records, and it is perhaps this relationship between the film and the Thai music industry that holds the filmmakers back from truly exploring the changes in the music industry over recent decades from the era of innocence depicted in the film.

Like Dear Dakanda, The Possible probably won’t travel outside Thailand because of licensing restrictions. Dear Dakanda had screenings at two small film festivals in Italy and Japan after they secured special permission from the French publishing company. Any festival or distributor who wishes to screen The Possible overseas will have the logistical nightmare of negotiating with the American record companies that hold the rights to the original 1960s music that the film reinterprets with Thai lyrics.

Dear Dakanda and The Possible are special cases. Most Thai films don’t have specific restrictions that bar them from export. This year in Thailand, over forty new domestically produced features have been shown theatrically, already with English subtitles intact. Many fall into the genres of action or horror, and may secure overseas sales rights, but, sadly, most will never play in public again after their domestic theatrical release. The industry-wide policy of striking English subtitles from local home video releases means they are effectively lost to anyone outside of Thailand that might want to see them. [**what about DVDs?**]

This is not a situation unique to Thai cinema. The Korean Film Archive in Seoul holds a print of Lee Doo-yong’s thriller The Last Witness (1980). A European film festival wants to screen the film in 2008, but the archive won’t loan the print because the copyright holder cannot be located. So the film sits in limbo as if it never existed, lost to world cinema history. Other films remain in the vaults because the surviving family members of the original producer demand screening fees that aren’t economically viable for film festivals.

If the film industry’s argument for screen quotas is that movies are cultural artifacts that need protection from the normal laws of economics, then special rights should also be granted in order to protect audiences from certain kinds of ’economic censorship.’ Copyright holders who don’t make their films available for the public to view perhaps deserve no legal protection from casual piracy. In the meantime, if the copyright holder of The Last Witness is reading this column, please raise your hand.

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