CANNES FILM FESTIVAL - FILM BANNED IN THAILAND NO. 1 IN FRANCE

Only days after it was banned by the Bangkok Film Festival, the animated film Persepolis made a sensational debut in France over the weekend, coming in ahead of a slew of Hollywood blockbusters to earn $1.8 million in 199 theaters -- or an average of $9,152 per theater. In May the film by directors Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud took the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. But, bowing to pressure from Iranian officials who objected to its depiction of an Iranian girl's struggle during the turmoil of the Islamic revolution and its aftermath, organizers of the Bangkok Film Festival yanked the film last week. It had been expected to open the festival on July 19. Instead, the festival is expected to announce this week that the opening film will be Andy Vajna's Children of Glory (Szabadság, szerelem), set during the aftermath of another revolution, Hungary's unsuccessful attempt to achieve independence from the Soviet Union in 1956.

04/07/2007