BANGKOK FILM FEST SAYS "GOODBYE AMERICANS"

Britney has said "sayonara" to K-fed. Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson have bid their farewells (over BORAT?!?). And now another bad relationship has broken up: the Bangkok International Film Festival have split up with their American overlords, Film Festival Management of Beverly Hills. There have been problems aplenty, and with the coup going on I guess everyone thought it was time for a fresh start.

Bangkok Festival says: “Both TAT and FFM still maintain a close and friendly relationship of mutual respect and there is a possibility of us collaborating on future festivals”.

Film Festival Management says: “While tremendously disappointed that we will be unable to take the Bangkok International Film Festival to the new heights that we planned for 2007, we are grateful to the Thai government for the years of support and the wonderful relationship we share. We wish TAT and the festival staff nothing but success and look forward to working again with them in the future.”

Ah, the new heights planned for 2007...would these be anything like the old heights you had planned for 2005 and 2006 which turned the BIFF into an international joke, under-attended, unloved, and an excuse for a bunch of industry players to have a vacation in Bangkok on the government's dime? Those were awesome heights. Hell, Subway Cinema runs a better festival with five people and not a dime to our name.

(Full story on Monsters and Critics)