Thai buddy flick ‘One for the Road’ wins big at Sundance

A Thai-directed melodrama produced by Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-wai won critical acclaim abroad and brought the kingdom’s first Sundance Film Festival honor.

As the annual festival lowered its digital curtains this morning – it was held virtually for the first time in 43 years – the only participating Thai-language film, One for the Road, was awarded the World Dramatic Special Jury Award: Creative Vision, one of three awards for which it was nominated.

It was the first movie with a Thai director to win at Sundance. 

Directed by Nattawut “Baz” Poonpiriya – best known for his critically acclaimed exam-cheating thriller Bad Genius – and produced by Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai; the film chronicles two friends who reunite for a road trip during which one finds out the other has terminal cancer. The story later swerves to address romance,…