Apichatpong, other award-winning filmmakers honored by industry federation, Culture Ministry

Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Anocha Suwichakornpong and Uruphong Raksasad were among the filmmakers honored by the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand and the Culture Ministry's Office of Contemporary Art and Culture at a gala ceremony on Thursday night at the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok.

Essentially, Honoring World-Class Thai Talents was about giving awards to award winners.

Here's the filmmakers honored:

• Apichatpong Weersethakul, for winning the Palme d'Or for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives at the Cannes Film Festival.
• Anocha Suwichakornpong, for winning the Tiger Award for Mundane History at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
• Uruphong Raksasad, for winning the Unesco Award for Agrarian Utopia at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (honors accepted by producer Pimpaka Towira because Uruphong was in Hamilton, New York).
• Wichanon Somumjarn, for winning the Best Fiction Award for his short, Four Boys, White Whiskey and Grilled Mouse at the Tampere Film Festival in Finland.
• Varathit Uthaisri, for winning the Gold Medal in the Alternative Category for Surface: Film from Below at the 37th Student Academy Awards.
• Kantana Animation, for winning the Best Animation prize for Khan Kluay II at the 53rd Asia-Pacific Film Festival.

The filmmakers brought their trophies from overseas and showed them off while mingling with industry and ministry brass. Dokdin Kanyamarn, the comedian and director of a string of musical comedies in the 1970s, was on hand to congratulate Apichatpong.


(Photos via Wallapa on Facebook)