Film industry workers and film buffs chose Guru Bangsa Tjokroaminoto (The Nation'€™s Teacher: Tjokroaminoto) as Film of the Year at the Piala Maya awards ceremony on Saturday.

Garin Nugroho'€™s film was the hit of the night, winning eight out of the 15 categories it had been nominated for, including Best Director.

'€œCongratulations, finally your work has been appreciated,'€ said Reza Rahadian, one of the leading actors of the film, while accepting the award on behalf of Garin.

There were pleasant surprises at the awards, including the naming of veteran actor Deddy Sutomo as Best Actor for his role in Mencari Hilal (Looking for Hilal).

The award topped off a great year for Deddy, who also took home the Piala Citra award on Nov. 23.

'€œI already had a hunch that Deddy would win this time,'€ said National Creative Economy Agency chief, Triawan Munaf, who handed the trophy to Deddy.

Ipung Rachmat Syaiful won Best Camera Director for Guru Bangsa Tjokroaminoto.

Meanwhile, Best Actress went to Marsha Timothy for her role in Nada Untuk Asa (Nada for Asa).

Whulandary Herman was named Best New Actress for Bidadari Terakhir (The Last Angel).

The award for Best Short Film went to Lemantun by Wregas Bhanuteja, who made the film about a family'€™s cupboard for his final assignment to graduate from the Jakarta Institute of Arts.

Young director Hariwicahya Utomo received the Iqbal Rais Award for his documentary on human rights activist Munir.

The organizer, in collaboration with SAE Institute and kineria.com, chose the theme of '€œImajinasia'€ this year.

'€œEveryone has imagination, and film is one of the types of media that stimulates the imagination ['€¦] that, in turn, will create something new,'€ said festival founder Hafiz Husni.

Seasoned actor Slamet Rahardjo handed the Lifetime Award to Hendrik Gozali, the co-producer of November 1828.

The organizer this year gave the special Arifin C. Noer award to Wulan Guritno, an actor with a short but impressive resume, for her role in Nada Untuk Asa.

 Already in its fourth year, the Piala Maya Awards has maintained its practice of involving almost 500 people of different professions and ages.

The Independent Selection Committee that appoints the winners includes film academics, journalists, musicians, film critics, fashion designers, scientists, social activists and graphic artists.

Nominees for the 29 categories were selected from all Indonesian films that had their theatrical releases or special screenings between Dec. 1, 2014 and Nov. 30, 2015.

The announcement of the nominees was made on Dec. 1.

The Piala Maya awards was initiated by movie enthusiast Hafiz as an alternative to the government-sponsored Indonesian Film Festival (FFI).

Bounty Umbara, who won Best Editor for 3 (Alif Lam Mim), said that he preferred the Piala Maya to the FFI.

'€œHere I only see familiar faces, filmmakers, while the FFI was filled with businesspeople.'€

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