
Indie film "Wonderful Town" snatched five Subhanahongsa Awards last night - for best picture, best director, best screenplay and best art direction.
Aditya Assarat, who not only directed the film but also wrote the screenplay, had many reasons to smile about.
The latest awards will bolster the film's reputation. During the past few years, "Wonderful Town" bagged special jury prizes at the Taipei Film Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Grand Prix at IndieLosboa, and the Best VPRO Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
"Wonderful Town" is also the first Thai film to win a film-making award from Pusan.
Set in a small town in the south of Thailand, "Wonderful Town" tells a halting love story about Ton, an architect who arrives from Bangkok to supervise the post-tsunami reconstruction of a beach resort, and Na, a beautiful woman who works at her father's hotel.
But when it came to acting, "Happy Birthday" star Ananda Everingham was named the Best Actor while Ratchawin Wongviriya from "Rak Sam Sao" emerged as the Best Actress.
Sorraphong Chatree, a new national artist, was named Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Ong Bak 2".
The Best Supporting Actress award went to Focus Jeerakul for her role in "Pidterm Yai Huajai Wawun" ("Hormones").
About 1,000 celebrities turned up for the award-presentation ceremony at the Thailand Cultural Centre, which saw 16 Subhanahongsa Awards up for grabs.