The Bangkok International Film Festival is caught up in a drama almost as fascinating as the political changes that have swept through the nation in recent months.
Earlier this month, the FBI arrested American couple Gerald and Patricia Green, who have been key executives of the BIFF since 2003, for allegedly paying a bribe of US$1.7 million to the former head of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) for the rights to manage the festival.
International film festivals have always attracted their fair share of intrigue and politics, but it usually involves tempestuous stars, programmers with inflated egos and movies that test censors and audiences with explicit sex and questionable cinematic taste. Things rarely reach the point where criminal charges are laid, with the exception of the odd drug bust or underage canoodling.
Of course, everyone is assumed innocent until proven guilty, so we're not suggesting all the accused are as crooked as they appear at the moment, but if they are, it's a big blow to the credibility of the country's film culture.
Just as up-and-coming filmmakers Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Nonzee Nimibutr and Apichatpong Weerasethakul are making waves on the world circuit, their capital's attempt to establish itself as a hub of film appreciation is now more compromised than it would have been had it decided to present a Steven Seagal retrospective.
If nothing else, it may serve as a cautionary tale to other festivals and governments.