In Bangkok

WHY did acclaimed Japanese film director Junji Sakamoto rush on to a plane specially to attend a hurried press conference in Bangkok on Wednesday? 

Because his film Children of the Dark, initially invited to be screened uncensored at the ongoing Bangkok International Film Festival, was abruptly pulled on Tuesday.

The film is an intense treatment of a serious issue across south east Asia, not to speak of other parts of the world : child prostitution, violence against children, and trafficking of children's internal organs.

It is the fictitious story of two Japanese - a journalist and an aid worker - trying to save children from sex slavery and organ harvesting in Thailand.

"As a film maker myself, I found the film was interesting and very, very well made", the festival's artistic director Yongyoot Thongkongtoon told journalists.

But he added ''I'm not really sure the audience will get the information from the film correctly and it could cause problems."

What those problems are remains obscure. According to the film makers, no official reason has been given for the abrupt cancellation of the screening. But they also say the legality of the film had been questioned. 

After initially turning down the film project, Thai authorities gave it permission when it reapplied for shooting in Thailand as a Japan-Thai joint venture. ''There was nothing unlawful about the process'' Mr Sakamoto insisted at the press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. 

He also confirmed talk at the festival that the ministry of tourism through the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) had put pressure on the festival committee to pull the film because of its ''sensitive'' content. 

A separate report in local media claimed the Thai embassy in Japan had objected to the film – which has been commercially successful and widely acclaimed in Japan. 

According to one source who saw the film, it contains wrenching and ''sordid'' scenes including one of a flabby middle aged man sodomising a young boy who grimaces in pain. 

''This film is not about Thailand, it is about the problem (of child prostitution and exploitation of children)", Sakamoto said. ''This is a test case of how open Thailand is (about the issue)", he added.

It is not the first time the Bangkok International Film Festival has brought controversy upon itself. Last year, it pulled the Academy Award-nominated animated film Persepolis following a request from the Iranian Embassy in Bangkok.

Perspolis later however, opened for a run at a commercial theatre in Bangkok which specialises in international films.

In place of Children of the Dark, the Bangkok International Film Festival will screen Where the Miracle Happens – described as a ''melodrama'' written by and starring Thai Princess Ubolratana. The film has already been screened in Thai theatres