After almost three years, thaicinema.org finally gets support , by the Office of Contemporary Arts and Culture, Culture Ministry even though I personally did not know anyone there. I had always thought about finding a sponsor but it was postponed all the times due to the work loads, and to be honest, being struck with my embarassment.
There are several reasons that drive my courage. The key reason will be informed in the next few months : ) Also I can't finish my longterm research on 'Women filmmakers in Asia," which is now cut to include only those in Southeast Asia and East Asia. I finished the Philippine, Indonesian, Malaysian and Korean parts. And now I am working on Singapore, Thailand, and Japan.
As a member of fipresi (International Federation of Film Critics), I apply their policy in running this website; that is, I should not ask any assistance from film companies. I told Klaus Eder, fipresci's secretary-general. I thought he was quite happy to hear that, and asking me to send him a link. In Thailand, all of the film publications need to depend on advertising. And it is the film companies that become the sponsors. Actually we have also heard that the first pages of several film magazines need to be paid by these companies.
The Office does not demand anything from us, only to put their logos in our website. It is fine for us. Actually we feel honoured as it certifies the credibility of this website! They did not even ask us to publish their news. We all get their news on our own.
Now I can modify the design of some pages, hire a part-time staff, give some baht for the longtime volunteers to buy coffee, and most importantly write more English version - which will be more coming in a special scoop style.
27 September 2007 / Anchalee |
