Louis Vuitton Hawaii International FIlm Festival 2008

In October 2005, Thailand telecommunications giant Shin Corporation, owned by the family of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, brings an $11-million defamation lawsuit against Supinya Klangnarong, a prominent Thai journalist, university lecturer and media rights activist. She had accused the corporation of colluding with the government. During the tumultuous months of her trial, director Pimpaka Towira, a leading figure of Thailand's independent film scene, accompanies the level-headed Klangnarong, capturing a portrait of idealism and integrity. The result is a beguiling mix of cinema vérité, personal profile, political exposé and national diary. Proving that freedom of speech and public activism can effect change, THE TRUTH BE TOLD seamlessly combines a fluid experimental style with an engaging narrative structure that comments on the legal, political and constitutional turmoil in contemporary Thai society.