The fifth annual Bangkok International Film Festival opens Thursday with 100 features and 30 shorts, but minus the frills now considered extravagant in Thailand after the September military coup. In contrast to last year's event, which saw Oliver Stone, Catherine Deneuve, Willem Dafoe and Terry Gilliam walk the red carpet, this year the festival, which runs from July 19 to 29, is working with a budget slashed roughly in half to 80 million baht. The fest will focus on more Asian films this year, but a plan to subtitle all films in Thai was scuttled because of budget constraints. The opening movie, Krisztina Goda's "Children of Glory," is about the bloody Hungary vs. Russia water polo match at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics that took place as the Hungarian Revolution against the Soviets unfolded, while the festival closes July 29 with the Thai kickboxing film "Muay Thai Chaiya."
The Hollywood Reporter
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