Published caption : A very realistic rendition of the late Rattana Pestonji, regarded as “the father of contemporary Thai film”, is posed next to the most vital tool of his trade. Although his filmography was brief, Rattana’s oeuvre brought Thai cinema to the attention of a wider global audience. In 1937, he shot his first film, Tang, about a young Thai girl. This short feature won the Amateur Cine Competition in Glasgow, Scotland, and Rattana was given the Alfred Hitchcock Award. Among his best-known movies were Country Hotel (1957), Dark Heaven (1965), Black Silk (1961) and Sugar Is Not Sweet (1965). He died on Aug 17, 1970, after suffering a heart attack during a seminar at Montien Hotel at which he was making a passionate case for official support from the government for the Thai film industry.