Thailand's motion picture association has selected a gay-themed, coming-of-age drama, "How to Win at Checkers (Every Time)," as an entry for the foreign-language category at the Academy Awards.
The movie is about an 11-year-old boy named Ek being raised by his gay, older brother in a poor Bangkok suburb. Ek tries to help his brother dodge the country's military draft lottery in the film, which touches on corruption, discrimination and social status in Thai society — and was released while a military government is running the country.
The film "has successfully been able to raise issues that people in Thailand don't openly talk about," said Weerasak Kowsurat, secretary-general of the National Federation of Thai Motion Picture and Content Associations.
An 8-person committee from the federation chose the film from among 59 contenders on Tuesday and submitted it Thursday as its selection for the Oscars foreign-language category, Weerasak said.
"The movie talks about morality and goodness in people as seen through the eyes of the younger brother," said Weerasak, adding that the older brother is gay but the film avoids gay stereotypes of promiscuity that are common in Thai films. "It shows the older brother as someone who is responsible, and trying to take care of his younger sibling. It's not how gay men are generally presented in Thai movies."
The Thai-language film was screened at the Berlin Film Festival this year and was released in July in Thailand. It was directed by Korean-American Josh Kim.
A Thai film has never been shortlisted for an Oscar nomination.
The Academy will announce the nominees for foreign-language films and other categories in mid-January before the Oscars are handed out Feb. 28, 2016.
Canada orders TikTok’s Canadian business to be dissolved but won’t block app
Canada announced Wednesday it won't block access to the popular video-sharing app TikTok but is ordering the dissolution of its Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind it.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said it is meant to address risks related to ByteDance Ltd.'s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
"The government is not blocking Canadians' access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content. The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice," Champagne said.
Champagne said it is important for Canadians to adopt good cybersecurity practices, including protecting their personal information.
He said the dissolution order was made in accordance with the Investment Canada Act, which allows for the review of foreign investments that may harm Canada's national security. He said the decision was based on information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada's security and intelligence community and other government partners.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of local jobs.
"We will challenge this order in court," the spokesperson said. "The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive."
TikTok is wildly popular with young people, but its Chinese ownership has raised fears that Beijing could use it to collect data on Western users or push pro-China narratives and misinformation. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020.
TikTok faces intensifying scrutiny... Read More