THAI FILM FOLK SPEND BUCKETS OF CASH

Wisekwai...after being absent for so long, he's back. And he's chronicling the high price tag of Thai film these days. The one Thai flick invited to Cannes this year is a 17 minute short called GRACELAND, described as a cross between BLISSFULLY YOURS and 3,000 MILES TO GRACELAND. But the most stunning thing about this movie is that there was a camera malfunction giving a blue tint to the footage which the director spent US$50,000 to correct. The film was a Columbia University Thesis project and with that kind of budget you're looking at a movie that cost over US$3,000/minute. That's expensive homework.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand isn't going to take this lying down. The group that puts on the ultra-expensive, ultra-irrelevant Bangkok International Film Festival every year is blowing its wad on a May 19th Cannes party to celebrate Thai film (even though only one 17 minute short has been invited to Cannes from Thailand). Apparently the room alone for the event costs about US$120,000 and then they're flying over guests, serving lots of food, wine, putting people up in hotels and the purpose of this all? To promote the Bangkok International Film Festival. Expect a big announcement about the festival's new leadership for next year. Expect absolutely nobody to care.

Thailand's Ministry of Culture is sponsoring a six day trip to Cannes for industry professionals who want to get tips on cultural management and that'll probably cost a bit too.

Imagine how much homework could get done for this kind of money.