The National Federation of Thai Film Associations has withdrawn its new criteria for movie nominations for this year’s Suphannahong National Film Awards, following public criticism and protests by film producers.
The criteria, which require films to be shown in cinemas in five regions of the country in order to be nominated, sparked public outrage as it would have excluded films with low budgets or small movie distributors. The requirement also led to producers and film directors pulling out of the competition to protest against the criteria.
The Federation altered its criteria last week in response to the controversy. According to revised regulations, films must now be at least 60 minutes long and shown at a cinema or other commercial film display venue for at least seven days during 2022. The federation also apologized to the public for any issues caused by its previous announcements. (NNT)
