BANGKOK — A film banned from Thai cinemas seven years ago over controversy for its depictions of sexuality and sex has finally won permission to be shown – minus three seconds of footage.
“Insects in the Backyard” will be screened in a run starting Nov. 30 at alternative Bangkok cinema House RCA.
The drama was banned in 2010 by censors for containing “immoral and pornographic scenes.” It’s centered around transgender Tanya’s struggles in raising two teenagers. The 93-minute film was directed by Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, who also writes and stars in the film.
The removed three seconds, in which Tanya watches a gay sex scene on video, were not essential to the film’s core, Tanwarin said.
After being banned in 2010, the Administrative Court ruled in 2015 it could be shown with a +20 rating if the three-second scene was removed.
Meanwhile, the makers of another banned film, “Shakespeare Must Die,” are appealing the Administrative Court’s August decision to leave the ban in place. The movie, which references the 1976 massacre of students at Thammasat University and 2009 political violence, was blocked by censors in 2012 for containing “content that divides the people.”
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