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After the Brave

 Bangkokborn filmmaker Aditya Assarat is a familiar face on the shortfilm circuit and indie music fans may remember him as the man behind “Raw Velvet”, the 2002 documentary about the alternative rock band Pru that was screened on cable TV.
Mainstream filmgoers should be hearing more about this young, talented director as his debut feature, “Wonderful Town”, was one of the three films to win the New Currents Award at the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) in South Korea earlier this month.
“The best thing about this festival was seeing so many young people in the audience,” says Aditya.
“It’s unusual for highschool and university students to attend film festivals in such high numbers. Even though they may not understand the films, the experience will teach them that there is much more out there than commercial movies.”
Set in Phang Nga’s Takua Pa district, “Wonderful Town” focuses in on a community devastated by the 2004 tsunami. The elegantly told love story begins with the arrival of Ton (Supphasit Kansen), a Bangkok architect sent to oversee the building of a new resort in the town. He falls in love with hotel owner Na (Anchalee Saisoontorn) and their relationship grows in the face of wagging tongues and the disapproval of Na’s brother Wit (Dul Yaambunying), the leader of a motorcycle gang.
Aditya visited the area after scouting for locations in Phuket for another project – “Sideline” – now cancelled due to financial problems. He checked into a hotel, the key location for the film, went for a walk, and instantly fell in love with the town.
“I had no interest in making a film about the tsunami. But parts of the story just came to me. Location often inspires me that way,” he says.
Though the romance between Ton and Na is the central theme, Aditya paints an emotional portrait of a town struggling to come to terms with loss while rebuilding itself.
Growing up overseas, Aditya says he now finds it easier to write scripts in English then translate into Thai.
“It’s the one real dilemma in my filmmaking. I haven’t yet really worked through it.”
So far, it hasn’t affected his filmmaking. Since making his debut in 2000 with the short “Motorcycle”, Aditya has worked closely with his actors, giving them time to read the script and adjust the dialogue to fit their characters.
“But it’s annoying as it slows everything down. What I want to say on film still has to go through someone else. I’ll try to solve the problem in my next film by making my main character more like me – a Thai who’s grown up overseas and speaks English for half the story.”
“Wonderful Town” was funded by Singha Beer and Rolex, and shooting completed last December. Aditya ran out of money during the postproduction process but later received support from the Culture Ministry’s Office of Contemporary Art and Culture.
He used some of the money from PIFF’s Asian Cinema Fund prize to transform his digital footage into 35mm film.
“We shot in digital due to the limited budget, but the better quality of the 35mm film means we’ll reach a larger audience,” he says.
Aditya left Thailand at the age of 15 to continue his secondary schooling in the US. He became obsessed with the big screen while studying history at New York University and went on to earn his masters degree in film at the University of Los Angeles in 2000. His thesis short, “Motorcycle”, was a success both in Thailand and on the festival circuit.
In 2003, he won the Hubert Bals Award at the Pusan Promotional Plan to develop his work.
A fellowship at the Sundance Institute’s Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs followed in 2004 and in 2005 he was picked by the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Art Initiative and worked for one year with director Mira Nair while she was making “Vanity Fair”.
But like other independent filmmakers, his works tend to be released on the festival circuit rather than in cinemas.
“It’s the only marketing channel for this kind of film. We don’t have massive budgets for promotion like they do for films such as ‘Ong Bak’,” he explains.
Last year, he joined up with friends Soros Sukhum and Jetnipith Teerakulchanyut to launch Pop Pictures, a production company handling TV commercials, music videos and TV programmes as well as film.
Pop Pictures also distributed “Dreamchaser”, the reality programme documenting the roundthecountry motorcycle journey of Aditya’s childhood friend Kamol “Suki” Sukosol Clapp, founder of Bakery Music.
“The company’s doing well but I can’t survive without making movies,” he says.
That hasn’t stopped him from turning down the chance to work in another major studio.
“It wouldn’t have worked. It was too far removed from my filmmaking style. But if the studio is willing to make the film with me, in my own style, it’s worth trying. It would be difficult, though. There’s not much of a market for alternative films here.
“Thai kids start watching movies when they’re young, but only in the cities. And most Thais still prefer films like ‘Theng Nong Khon Maha Hia’,” he says.
Right now, Aditya is busy preparing for another season of “Dreamchaser”, in which Suki will travel with actor Ananda Everingham to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
He’s hoping that “Wonderful Town” will be released in Bangkok early next year, probably at Lido Cinema.
“It’s a Thai film so Thai people should have a chance to see it. But it’s not a commercial endeavour, so I’m not expecting it to earn any money,” he says.

Parinyaporn Pajee
The Nation