wonderful town ( film )
a thai movie, wonderful town, seen the previous night, was shot around old takua pa. the film director was right: this charming old town is wonderful .
supphasit kansen and anchalee saisoontorn in
wonderful town ,
directed by aditya assarat .
wonderful town
, the promising first film by aditya assarat, has a great amount of outer spirit, though what it truly lacks is an expressive inner life .
a film review on friday about “wonderful town, ” set in thailand, reversed the names of the two main characters. the housekeeper is na and the architect she falls in love with is ton .
“the film is both a bittersweetlove story and a memorial to the tsunami victims. ”
wonderful town is a movie starring anchalee saisoontorn, supphasit kansen, and dul yaambunying. after the tsunami struck the coast town of takua pa, young architect ton moves in town to develop a construction project and settles in a small hotel run by na, a young sensitive local girl... see full summary »
ian johnston is a new zealander living in taipei, taiwan. his work has appeared in the film journal .
assarat has set and shot wonderful town in takua pa, a town at the centre of the tsunami, and the film is both the bittersweet love story that assarat originally set out to make and the memorial to the tsunami victims that it was transformed into after the director’s visit to the town. it’s the latter feature that’s alluded to in the film’s opening shot of waves gently lapping the shoreline. the giant wave that brought such death and destruction has subsided but is still implicit in the quiet movement of water before us, just as the placid surface of the town keeps hidden and suppressed for the time being the pain and anger of the survivors .
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small peaceful coastal town, located amid the freshness of a valley in phang nga province .
faith prince (right) as ruth and nikki m. james as eileen in los angeles opera' s semi - staged performance of leonard bernstein' s' wonderful town' (wally skalij / los angeles times )
that performance of the
wonderful town
is to my opinion a must for every misic lover - as this
live performance
is so special in any sense - it attracts the listener / viewer ...
given that
wonderful town
is escapist entertainment best known for its wonderful songs, that doesn' t necessarily mean a disaster. this is, after all, bernstein uncommonly frivolous. unlike pretty much all of bernstein' s major work (with the possible exception of his one film score ,
on the waterfront
— which the l. a. phil also recently performed live with the movie) ,
wonderful town
was a jobbed - out score. when the songs originally written for the 1953 show by leroy anderson were rejected, bernstein' s old pal lyricists betty comden and adolph green were hired to come up with new ones in a month. they convinced bernstein, with whom they had written
on the town
a decade earlier, to write the music .
after the tsunami struck the coast town of takua pa, young architect ton moves in town to develop a construction project and settles in a small hotel run by na, a young sensitive local girl. they begin a secret love affair, but soon rumors spread and they meet with strong opposition from the town' s residents .
this delicate, delightful and nearly note - perfect debut feature from young thai director aditya assarad offers more evidence of the tremendous film renaissance underway in east asia .
there' s a folksy majesty to wonderful town, born of its leisurely pace, pastoral views of idyllic scenery and a storytelling drive set only slightly faster than slow motion. it recalls a lot of rustic, independent english - language films of the' 90s
but this
wonderful town
( bearing no relation to the old musical) is a thai film set in takua pa, a coastal area of southern thailand hit by the 2004 tsunami. director aditya assarat wisely tackles his topic with an elegiac restraint. except that the story occurs in a beach region where countless homes are now skeletons, you' d never guess for the first third of the movie that the aftermath of the tsunami is the setting—it' s hardly mentioned .
takua pa has a similar feel to parts of old phuket town, but is found about two hours north in phang - nga .
there’s a dreamlike sense to the town, intimated in the way assarat starts his story, after this shot of lapping waves, with female lead na (anchalee saisoontorn) awakening from an afternoon nap. that scene is then parallelled at the end of the film, prior to the final tragic turn of events, with a repeat of this: a shot of gently rolling waves is then followed by na waking up, although this time her lover ton (supphasit kansen) is by her side. this is not to suggest that we should read the story of wonderful town literally as na’s dream, but there is a metaphorical effect here, where the motif of dreams and sleeping adds an oneiric level to the drifting, languorous feel of life in this forgotten small town .
there' s a folksy majesty to
wonderful town ,
born of its leisurely pace, pastoral views of idyllic scenery and a storytelling drive set only slightly faster than slow motion. it recalls a lot of rustic, independent english - language films of the' 90s, with its sleepy narrative underscored by folk music .
wonderful town is set in a thai village that was devastated by the 2004 tsunami. a young architect is sent to oversee the rebuilding effort that has started in the village. he soon falls in love with a local girl. the film is slow and thoughtful. it builds upon the romance whilst looking at it from a distance. both parties are very cautious about getting close to each other. the locals soon disapprove of the relationship, it upsets the balance and releases pent up anger from the community that perhaps feels abandoned. the ending is shocking and even sickening. it comes suddenly, as such an act would. wonderful town is a bit to thoughtful for it' s own good. there' s a great story and some fascinating themes here, but first it makes us sit through a generic love story, one that takes up too much screen time .
everything is, for a good long while, very nice indeed in “wonderful town. ” written and directed by aditya assarat, this lucid debut unfolds in a comfy patch of southern thailand nestled in a lush green valley near the sea. takua pa, the place is called, and a woman named na (anchalee saisoontorn) calls it home .
another remnant cruises the streets, psychic ruin on wheels: a crew of disaffected teenagers prowling about on motorcycles, displaced, trouble - seeking, adrift, fated to break forth the tensions beneath the film’s placid surface .
the route passes through the popular khao lak holiday area with its strings of luxury resorts on both sides of the highway north and south of the town .
written (in thai, with english subtitles) and directed by aditya assarat; director of photography, umpornpol yugala; edited by lee chatametikool; music by koichi shimizu and zai kuning; production designer, karanyapas khamsin; produced by soros sukhum and jetnipith teerakulchanyut; released by kino international. at the anthology film archives, 32 second avenue, at second street, east village. running time: 1 hour 32 minutes. this film is not rated .
as in one of mr. weerasethakul’s beguiling narratives, where time and space are mercurial creatures and mythical beasts pad through the forest, the air in “wonderful town” feels charged with weird energies, as if something strange and possibly menacing is about to erupt. and so it does, in a single word, uttered by ton in pillow talk with na: “tsunami. ”
“wonderful town, ” by its third act, is a title drowning in irony. wondrous, nevertheless, is mr. assarat’s sustained command as he guides his material into darker waters. it’s no small feat to pull off as sweet and sensitive a romance as that between na and ton, and something rarer yet to suffuse such affections into a poem of wounded landscape .
wonderful town (2007), the first feature film of thai director aditya assarat (he co - directed the documentary - drama mix three friends in 2005), is haunted by ghosts. which is not to say that it’s the latest contribution to thailand’s commercially successful ghost - horror genre, something to add to the likes of nang nak (nonzee numibutr, 1999), bangkok haunted (pisuth praesaeng - lam and oxide pang, 2001) or the shutter (pakpoom wongpoom and banjong pisanthanakun, 2004). far from it, in fact, for assarat’s slow - burning, gently evocative mood piece is firmly in the line of the work of thai art movie auteurs apichatpong weerasethakul and pen - ek ratanaruang. and the ghosts that haunt the setting and the film itself are those of the real victims of the 2004 tsunami .
wonderful town
is a fictional story set against a real - life background. aditya assarat' s feature debut takes place in takua pa, a coastal area in southern thailand that lost more than 8, 000 habitants when the asian tsunami struck in late 2004. caused by a 9. 3 magnitude indian ocean earthquake on dec. 26, this natural disaster affected 15 countries across the globe and was responsible for the death of over 225, 000 people. three years later, takua pa, once the site of a thriving community, still struggles with this collective trauma. and, amidst the city' s reconstruction, an architect mysteriously arrives from the cosmopolitan bangkok. ton, the only person from his firm willing to re - locate to this desolate place, comes to supervise one of the city' s many construction sites. as he looks for a place to live, he meets na. as such, to view
wonderful town
as a reaction to the tsunami is perhaps to miss the film' s larger point. here, this traumatic natural disaster also functions as a point of departure for the film' s assertions about the relationship - - and many parallels - - between humans and the so - called natural world .
there’s a lot to admire about wonderful town, above all the patience, elegance, and delicacy with which it delineates both ton and na’s growing relationship and the environment in which it takes place – the small town of old - style dilapidated buildings, nestled beneath low - lying dull - green hills, almost as if it were suspended in time. still, it’s not a perfect work by any means, and as much as assarat’s fellow - thai apichatpong weerasethakul will inevitably be invoked as a point of comparison, assarat is a more conventional director, lacking weerasethakul’s thrilling experimentation with form and narrative. wonderful town suffers from some lapses in tone: there’s an unfortunate moment of unnecessary prurience when the camera readjusts to leer at actress anchalee saisoontorn’s naked breasts; there’s an unconvincing scene that aims to show na’s growing love by having her stroke ton’s clothes (a banal movie - moment – does anyone ever really do this ?); and the soundtrack’s “moody” guitar score is decidedly over - determined .
at the dorothy chandler pavilion on friday night, it was los angeles opera' s turn, for a semi - staged performance of
wonderful town
conducted by the company' s resident conductor, grant gershon. on broadway, no one — other than the cast — pays much attention to the conductor. once again, the revelation with west coast bernstein is just how wrong broadway can be musically .
this was a chance to be sassy, not think too hard, and also be a little subversive .
wonderful town
is based on the stories of ruth mckenney about her and her sister eileen. in the show, ruth is the quiet, awkward and shy one who gets the guy and eileen is the pretty, gregarious one who gets nothing but guys. a new yorker writer, mckenney got her start at communist dailies .
i have these days developed a certain suspicion of dreamy arthouse movies that pay for their dreaminess with a flourish of violence at the end, but there is no doubt that this is highly persuasive and intelligent film - making, the kind of movie that enfolds you in its world .
you could call such camerawork jamesian, for the elegance with which it traces the contours of experience — or perhaps, given the context, apichatpongian is the better term. the mellow bliss and aesthetic delicacy of “wonderful town” recall the work of the ingenious thai cinéaste apichatpong weerasethakul, creator of idiosyncratic romances like “tropical malady” and “syndromes and a century. ” mr. assarat shares with his compatriot an elegant, intuitive ease coupled with prodigious formal control, though of a less experimental bent than his better - known colleague .
in 2002, for instance, simon rattle devoted his first new year' s eve concert as music director of the then still stuffy berlin philharmonic to none other than a semi - staged performance of
wonderful town ,
which ended with the cast doing a conga line through, and with, the audience, while the erudite musicians let their long hair down and danced as they played onstage. the cast included music theater singers (including audra mcdonald) who could sing and classical singers (including thomas hampson) who could do theater. it was fabulous .
in the film’s climax assarat aims to broaden the meaning of his film beyond that of the central couple. (it’s impossible to offer any proper analysis without revealing important plot points, so spoiler - averse readers are warned .) this final section follows on a revelation of ton’s past and a sudden alteration to the future that has so far seemed to be mapped out for the couple. leaving na in bed, he goes out to his car, calls his ex - girlfriend in bangkok, and tearfully reconciles with her. this casts a new light on ton’s sincerity up to now – his professions of liking and satisfaction with the simple pleasures of small - town life, his commitment to na. and although na’s brother wit can have no knowledge of ton’s change of heart, the way wit now removes his earlier approval of ton’s relationship with his sister in overseeing his gang’s attack acts as a symbolic punishment for ton’s abandonment of na .
the bus ride of 120 kms from phuket to the town on the northern coast of phang nga was a two - hour drive through thick forests, dense national parks and dark - green mountains, the road following a winding coastline all the way .
that is not to say that the l. a. opera
wonderful town ,
with only three performances over the weekend, didn' t go all broadway on us. the cast, headed by faith prince, was primarily showbiz. peggy hickey' s choreography and the little staging that david lee could get away with were broadway - ish. the one novelty was a cinematic backdrop by hana s. kim, with cute animated drawings of greenwich village in the 1950s setting the scene of the story of two sisters from ohio trying to make their way in new york .
ton and na’s romance proceeds at a gentle, underplayed pace in keeping with the style of the film. he shows an early interest in her, helping her out with the laundry hung out on the roof of the inn (this is a site which will have symbolic import in the film’s final scene), and she soon responds to him, listening to the sounds he makes in his room, exploring his room in his absence. their love affair seems so fluidly developed, so natural, that it’s almost a shock when na warns ton to be more circumspect, that the townspeople might react badly to their relationship. when some louts on motorcycles circle na’s car threateningly, it’s like an incursion from another kind of movie, but it’s also a foreboding of what is to come. those local layabouts are in fact led by ton’s mostly absent brother wit (dul yaambunying), a small - town gangster who confesses his inability to shoulder the responsibility of running the family inn with na and who eventually seems to give his approval to ton’s relationship with na .
this film, paradoxically, is a still water that runs deep with unspoken emotion. anchalee saisoontorn plays ton, a young guy from an architect' s office who has come to a shattered beach resort to supervise the building of a new tourist complex. he stays at a modest hotel in town, run by na (supphasit kansen), a beautiful, withdrawn young woman. gradually, the two of them fall in love, but ton is to clash with na' s scapegrace brother, who represents a strange kind of loyalty to the past and the wrecked present, and a reluctance to see it all rebuilt and paved over, however painful the catastrophe that turned their existence to rubble .
the centennial of leonard bernstein' s birth is not until the summer after next, but the west coast has already gotten a jump - start over broadway with the musicals. michael tilson thomas last summer conducted a semi - staged version of
on the town
with the san francisco symphony, while gustavo dudamel led
west side story
at the hollywood bowl .
but there’s one further sacrifice. when we’re taken back to the inn after the killing – although clearly some time has passed – we first see wit now at work, a sign that he has accepted the family responsibilities that he’d avoided in the past. but the two shots of na that follow are both images of entrapment, of her behind a window grille and then, on the rooftop, separated from us by wire netting. in a sense, the film abandons her here: life has adjusted and moved on, leaving the tragedy of her and ton’s story as a reflection in miniature of the town’s larger tragedy of the past. the future is symbolised in the delicate balancing act of the two young girls as they execute their ballet steps on the rooftop, and when they leave the shot, the camera holds on the view out from the rooftop, tremulous and a little uncertain, but still one of hope for the future .
the gang’s murder of ton is also an acting - out of their own feelings of frustration and resentment, their sense of their own abandonment. it’s not simply small - minded locals’ suspicion of and unthinking malice toward an outsider. when ton’s body ends up floating in the water – water that brought death and destruction to the townspeople in the form of the tsunami – it’s a way of making bangkok - dwellers, whom the townspeople feel have neglected and abandoned them, literally share in their own pain. ton becomes the necessary sacrificial offering that leads to rebirth. this significance is reinforced in the film’s final image of the two young girls in tutus dancing on the inn’s rooftop .
ton is from bangkok and has come to takua pa to supervise a hotel resort project on a nearby beach. he stays in the town itself, in a small inn where we first see na working as what we assume to be a mixture of receptionist and room maid. in fact, in a demonstration of assarat’s subtle and allusive narrative style, we only learn later that na’s family owns this inn, and even then precise background details – what happened to na’s parents, how she came to be bringing up her nephew (who we, like ton, first assume to be her son) – are never made entirely clear. more important is the establishment of a general feeling of absence and loss, and the idea that this slow - moving, underpopulated town – we never see many people – is in a sense haunted by the ghosts of those who died in the tsunami. these “hauntings” are symbolised by the two abandoned buildings that ton visits, one the old family home beside the inn, the other the ruined hotel next to the resort that the workers superstitiously warn ton away from .
historically, indian, chinese and arabic traders knew takua pa as takola, the indian word for the sweet - smelling cardamom spice. its port was well known as a trading centre for spices on the early commercial shipping route from the andaman sea to the gulf of siam 200 years ago .
takua pa (tin in thai) then became also an important centre for tin - mining and was eventually included as an administrative district in the new phang nga province .
it was morning of a long - weekend. thinking about where to go next, this traveller remembered takua pa that she once visited with many friends and met other travellers who are now close friends .
travellers can take their time, slowing down and stopping to walk and take in the sights such as at the busy khao lak tourist township .
more cars and motorbikes were on the road as the sun rose. people were out early, opening their restaurants, spreading out their groceries or just relaxing in front of their houses .
the old sino - portuguese - style buildings on udom tara and sri takua pa roads silently testify to the golden age of old takola when tin mines made the money that built the picturesque, grey, two - storey shophouses .
early next morning, this travelller woke in an old hotel that was decorated simply and neatly. with not many visitors were around, it was an ideal place to rest .
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a sensitive love story from thailand set against the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami .
it' s no small feat to pull off as sweet and sensitive a romance as that between na and ton, and something rarer yet to suffuse such affections into a poem of wounded landscape .
occasionally, assarat - - who studied in the us - - drops a hint about sinister times to come, but nothing prepares the audience for what does happen .
assarat has little to say about the role of hope in post - traumatic living .
demonstrates that it' s still entirely possible to make a movie outside the framework of pop genre cinema that is engrossing, moving and, in its unassertive way, quietly entertaining .
a purposeful, almost meditative exploration of the scars left on a people' s psyche after tragedy .
part time musicians feat. chladni chandi - would you mind? [ official video ]
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na works at a rundown but well - scrubbed hotel that doesn’t see many guests these days until the arrival of ton (supphasit kansen), a handsome young architect overseeing a beachfront development. na and ton play their parts — she, the curious, reticent housekeeper; he, the shy, grateful guest — but another game is afoot, slipping around the edges of their customary roles. the faintest blush, a lingering look, a gift of oranges from the market, a conversation that goes on a little longer than normal. they’re falling, ever so softly, in love .
mr. assarat shelters this budding romance with surpassingly lovely filmmaking, easing into and out of scenes with an unrushed tempo that lets each emotion, thought and subtle effect flower, then fade away. his frames are meticulous without being fussy and his camera movements suave and suggestive, delineating the sentiment of the moment with precision and grace .
that beachfront property, adjacent to a ruined building rumored to be haunted; that lonely hotel that used to bustle with tourists; that aspect of something submerged in ton’s physical carriage and expression — these are remnants of the cataclysmic storm from 2004 that claimed thousands of lives in takua pa .
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with: anchalee saisoontorn (na), supphasit kansen (ton) and dul yaambunying (na’s young brother) .
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inematic quietism is a quality that has to shout to be heard, sometimes. aditya assarat has made an intriguing and engrossing thai movie, which is both a troubled love story and a metaphor, of sorts, for thai communities traumatised by the 2004 tsunami .
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instead, assarat probes at the psychological devastation such an event (some 8, 000 died at takua pa) imparts on individuals and on the slender thread of community left behind. he does so through the casual, gradual, tortured love affair between na (anchalee saisoontorn), now running her family' s economically hard hit hotel, and ton (supphasit kansen), a bangkok architect sent to a construction site with secrets of his own. he becomes a target of na' s brother and his gang, now as zombielike as all the other survivors .
assarat' s plotting is deliberately vague and unclear, but his sense of the emotional nihilism in the wake of such an unimaginable tragedy is one of quiet, deadly poetry. the juxtaposition of natural beauty and physical decay, perhaps obvious, is nevertheless disturbing and breathtaking .
running time: 1: 32. opens aug. 15 at facets cinematheque .
the debate as to whether sophisticated broadway shows belong on the lyric stage is an old and tired one. european opera houses do bernstein and sondheim, along with other classic shows, all the time, regularly trying to find the kind of daringly relevant dramatic angles too provocative for mainstream commercial theater. that, of course, assumes that opera companies and symphony orchestras, for all their exceptional musical resources, can avoid the deadly dangers of pomp and condescension .
l. a. opera, on the other hand, attempted to break down different barriers. rather than simply relying on its own impressive resources and emerging classically - trained singers who can do anything (as so many can these days), the company went for broadway veterans. cast members stood at their music stands and read their lines and sang their songs. they compensated for lack of preparation by doing what professionals know how to do — project all - purpose personality and ham with all - purpose charm .
the show' s milieu they knew, all three having been starving greenwich village artists themselves not that long before. bernstein had just attempted a short opera ,
trouble in tahiti ,
and it hadn' t gone well. he feared the house un - american activities committee might come after him for his pronounced leftist leanings .
the songs cover the waterfront — an irish jig, a swing tune, beatnik scat, moving ballads, crazy comic numbers, that irresistible duet
ohio ,
a tour of christopher street that will make a real new yorker long for the old days, and, of course ,
conga ,
the number with which eileen gets a chorus line of brazilian sailors heated up .
as ruth, prince could be counted on for her appealingly raucous and wry good humor. nikki m. james, a better dancer than singer, proved a vivacious eileen who could follow a line of flips with a song refrain without catching her breath. the most polished and amusing performance came from roger bart, changing hats and accents with remarkable ease as tour guide, lecherous reporter, hipster club owner and, if i counted correctly, eight other characters .
ben crawford, as the addled football player wreck went all out, as any wreck must, with his riotous song about passing the football. marc kudisch, as the editor who falls for ruth, was the most reliable singer. jared gertner made a fine nebbishy store clerk, one of eileen' s endless admirers .
it came as little surprise that by assigning to emerging opera singers (mostly from l. a. opera' s young artist training program) the many minor roles — such as wreck' s girl friend helen, sung by julia aks, and the various policemen, editors and the like — the musical level was lifted. the company' s chorus and chamber orchestra served to further modernize broadway .
even so, you might be led to believe that personality ultimately works best. the audience loved the show .
but behind it all was gershon' s illuminating conducting. the evening' s one leading opera figure, he knew how to pace every number, how everything song should be sung, how every dance should swing, how to offer guileless compensating support for a needy cast' s every need and most of all, how to bring out the best in everyone on the stage .
a look at what' s happening in the l. a. scene, plus openings, critics' picks and more .
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in his first appearance in the berlin philharmonic' s new year' s eve concert series, sir simon rattle conducts this brilliant score by leonard bernstein. rattle is joined by kim criswell, audra mcdonald, thomas hampson, brent barrett, and european voices .
region: region 1 (u. s. and canada only. read more about dvd formats. )
broadway stars brent barrett, audra mcdonald and kim criswell, and the magnificent opera baritone thomas hampson, sing in concert in berlin one of bernstein' s most memorable and funniest shows. they are accompanied by the berlin philharmonic, conducted by the fabulous and unequaled sir simon rattle. for a show - stopper encore, the entire orchestra, along with the stars, chorus and audience, all dance the conga !
great music from a terrific little broadway musical back in the 1950' s. audra mcdonald is a world class talent. the final number has the joint jumpin and those attending this concert rolling in the aisles .
an enjoyable disc with a couple of caveats. the 5. 1 audio settings make the audience sound like it' s in a 5 - gallon jug. and it was dispiriting and distracting to see kim criswell rely on a notebook for the lyrics to
conga .
top performers well conducted all having lots of fun. one cannot ask for any better than this. simon rattle is very good with l. bernstein !
i purchased this dvd based on scott morrison' s review - and am very happy i did. it' s great fun - a pleasure for the eyes and ears .
there is a time and a place for everything under the sun - and that includes lenny' s showtunes. this sort of concert should have been entrusted to the likes of michael tilson ...
this performance will due as the only one available. but when will cbs masterworks release dvd' s of some of their classic television broadcasts .
a concert presentation of the leonard bernstein / betty comden / adolph green musical adaptation of
my sister eileen
with audra mcdonald radiant as eileen and kim criswell terrific ...
i agree the performance was outstanding and all the performers did such a great job. the sound / video quality is exceptional. but ...
i was immediately taken with the overture. considering it wasn' t one i was familiar with, i was surprised at how much i enjoyed it .
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wonderful town is a 2007 thai film written and directed by aditya assarat . set on the mainland north of phuket island in the dreary post-tsunami khao lak area and takua pa town , phang nga province , shooting was completed in december 2006 , for which aditya had secured funding from singha beer and rolex . more money was needed for post-production work , funds were provided by the thailand ministry of culture 's office of contemporary art and culture . wonderful town premiered at the 2007 busan international film festival . it won the festival 's top prize , the new currents award and a us$ 90,000 prize , which he split evenly with two other filmmakers who also won the award , malaysian director liew seng tat , who won for his film flower in the pocket , and guang hao-jin of china , for his film life track . aditya said he would use his prize money to transfer his digital-format footage to 35-millimeter , and he hoped it would have a limited screening in bangkok sometime in 2008 . wonderful town was shown in the forum programme at the 2008 berlin international film festival , and won a prestigious tiger award at the 2008 international film festival rotterdam . 
wonderful town is a 2007 thai film written and directed by aditya assarat. set on the mainland north of phuket island in the dreary post-tsunami khao lak area and takua pa town, phang nga province, shooting was completed in december 2006, for which aditya had secured funding from singha beer and rolex. more money was needed for post-production work, funds were provided by the thailand ministry of culture's office of contemporary art and culture. wonderful town premiered at the 2007 busan international film festival. it won the festival's top prize, the new currents award and a us$ 90,000 prize, which he split evenly with two other filmmakers who also won the award, malaysian director liew seng tat, who won for his film flower in the pocket, and guang hao-jin of china, for his film life track. aditya said he would use his prize money to transfer his digital-format footage to 35-millimeter, and he hoped it would have a limited screening in bangkok sometime in 2008. wonderful town was shown in the forum programme at the 2008 berlin international film festival, and won a prestigious tiger award at the 2008 international film festival rotterdam.
wonderful town is a 2007 thai film written and directed by aditya assarat. set on the mainland north of phuket island in the dreary post-tsunami khao lak area and takua pa town, phang nga province, shooting was completed in december 2006, for which aditya had secured funding from singha beer and rolex. more money was needed for post-production work, funds were provided by the thailand ministry of culture's office of contemporary art and culture. wonderful town premiered at the 2007 busan international film festival. it won the festival's top prize, the new currents award and a us$ 90,000 prize, which he split evenly with two other filmmakers who also won the award, malaysian director liew seng tat, who won for his film flower in the pocket, and guang hao-jin of china, for his film life track. aditya said he would use his prize money to transfer his digital-format footage to 35-millimeter, and he hoped it would have a limited screening in bangkok sometime in 2008. wonderful town was shown in the forum programme at the 2008 berlin international film festival, and won a prestigious tiger award at the 2008 international film festival rotterdam.