Prohibition lifted on controversial Shakespeare Must Die film

The long-standing prohibition on the screening of the contentious film, Shakespeare Tong Tai (Shakespeare Must Die), was lifted by the Supreme Administrative Court yesterday, bringing an end to an 11-year ban.

The court’s ruling also mandated the Film Screening Committee, informally known as the Censorship Department and operating under the preceding Culture Ministry, to provide financial compensation to the individuals affiliated with the film.

Following the announcement of the court’s resolution, artist and activist Manit Sriwanichpoom, who held the role of producer for the film, expressed his elation on his Facebook page, promising to reveal a future screening schedule. He celebrated the verdict as a significant landmark in the history of the film industry, reported Bangkok Post.

“Finally, Shakespeare Must Die is free.”

The film, directed by Samanrat Ing Kanjanavanit, or Ing K, was initially scheduled for screening in April 2012. It was financially backed by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC) as part of the Thai Khem Kaeng scheme, under the earlier administration of Yingluck Shinawatra.

The film, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s renowned tragedy Macbeth, centres around a theatre troupe in a fictional country resembling Thailand. The group is producing a staging of the infamous play, where an ambitious general ruthlessly murders his way to the Scottish throne.

The administration of Yingluck Shinawatra enforced the ban on the film on April 3, 2012, citing it as a threat to national security due to the inclusion of visual references to violent political crackdowns, including the Thammasat University protest of October 6, 1976, and Black May in 1992.

The production team had been persistently striving to have the ban repealed for over a decade.

Following a notice from the National Committee on Soft Power Development on January 4 about regulating censorship, the prohibition was finally revoked. The committee stated that censorship should primarily be confined to instances posing risks of defaming the monarchy.

These adjustments are anticipated to be finalised midway through this year.