AN Indonesian movie about a love triangle involving two students and their teacher
won the top prize at Cambodia's First Southeast Asian Film festival.
Queen Norodom Monineath, at a ceremony in the Royal Palace on the night of Apr 5,
presented the Golden Apsara award to actress Paquita Widjaja in the absence of Garin
Nugroho, director of "Bulan Tertusuk Ilalang" ("And the Moon Dances").
Widjaja told reporters the film was released in 1995 and had won four other awards
at international film festivals. The story focuses on a male and a female student
and their teacher.
Thai director Prince Chatri Chalerm Yukhon won the Silver Apsara for his "Sia
Dai 1" ("What a Pity"), while the jury awarded special prizes to "Boa
Deng" ("The Red Lotus") from Laos and Malaysia's "Kaki Bakar"
("The Arsonist").
Twelve films from the region were entered in the competition section of the First
Southeast Asian Biennial Film Festival, which began Mar 29.
It also featured some 30 non-competing films from Cambodia, Burma, China, India,
Iran and France, including a retrospective of the work of veteran French actor and
director Alain Delon.
Delon had been scheduled to attend as the festival's guest star, but failed to show
up. The French Embassy, which organized and sponsored the festival, would not explain
why his attendance was canceled.
The award ceremony was followed by a gala dinner hosted by Queen Monineath at the
Royal Palace.
