6TH ANNUAL CAMBODIA TOWN FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FILM AND SHOW LINEUP, RUNNING SEPTEMBER 15-16
6TH ANNUAL CAMBODIA TOWN FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FILM AND SHOW LINEUP, RUNNING SEPTEMBER 15-16
LONG BEACH, CA- July 25, 2018- The 6th annual Cambodia Town Film Festival announced its film and show lineup. Selections include a wide variety of stories and genres highlighting the Cambodian and Cambodian-American experience and international artistic talent. The 2018 Cambodia Town Film Festival takes place September 15-16 at the Art Theatre, Long Beach, CA.
The 2018 lineup includes 13 films, 1 Live Show, 4 feature narratives, 3 feature documentaries, and 8 short films, including 2 U.S. premiers, 14 California premiers and 4 Khmer Language feature films with English subtitles.
The 2018 film and show selections are as follows:
FEATURE FILMS:
THE WITCH:
*U.S. Premiere
Directed and produced by HUY Yaleng, cinematography by OUL Chamroeun. (Cambodia) – Feature Narrative. Based on a Khmer folk tale. Tycoon Raj and his family who live peacefully in the ancient Cambodian city of Longvek, until he’s badly injured by bandits and eerie calamities lead to fears of sorcery and demonic possession. With Huy Yaleng, Hin Channiroth, Chan Dara, Ven Vannak.
MIND CAGE:
*U.S. Premiere
Directed by Amit Dubey, cinematography by Jimmy Henderson, written by Amit Dubey and Michael Hodgson. (Cambodia) – Feature Narrative. A Psychiatrist struggles to defeat superstition and old beliefs when a traditional healer threatens to tear his world apart. With Sarita Reth, Savin Phillip, Rous Mony, CIFF 2017 *Best Actor Socheata Sveng.
LETTERS FROM HOME:
*Live Show
Written and performed by Kalean Ung, music by Chinary Ung, directed by Marina McClure. A deeply personal performance describing the interconnectedness of generations through family history, including escape from violence of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s Cambodian genocide, and her experience growing up first-generation, biracial in Southern California.
LES PÉPITES / LITTLE GEMS:
Directed by Xavier de Lauzanne. (France, Cambodia) – Feature Documentary.
Two worlds colliding for the best. The children of Phnom Penh scavenging the dump-site to survive and a recently retired couple discovering Cambodia. This is the extraordinary human story of Christian and Marie France and how they changed the lives of more than 10,000 kids over 20 years.
ANGKAR:
Directed by Neary Adeline Hay, produced by Christophe Audeguis, music by Mathisa Durand. (France, Cambodia) – Feature Documentary. Khonsaly finds his former Khmer Rouge executioners, in the obscure intimacy of the village in which they lived for 4 years. Between past and present, identities are revealed, the forgotten specters re-emerging and the story, facing the other, is finally told.
RISKING LIGHT:
Directed and produced by Dawn Mikkelson, executive produced by Miranda Wilson, associate produced and cinematography by Matt Ehling. (United States, Cambodia, Australia) – Feature Documentary. From the streets of Minneapolis, the aboriginal lands of Australia, and the killing fields of Cambodia come the powerful stories of three people who had the courage to step out of the haunting, tragic darkness of the past, risking everything to reach the light of their own compassion.
THE JOY LUCK CLUB (25th Anniversary)
* Free Screening
Directed by Wayne Wang, written by Amy Tan, produced by Ronald Bass, Patrick Markey, Wayne Wand and Amy Tan. (United States) – Feature Narrative. In San Francisco, a group of aging Chinese women (Kieu Chinh, Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lisa Lu) meet regularly to trade familial stories while playing Mahjong. In a series of sixteen vignettes that spans generations and continents, this adaptation of Amy Tan’s bestselling novel explores cultural conflict and the often-turbulent relationships between four first-generation Chinese-American women (Ming-Na Wen, Tamlyn Tomita, Lauren Tom, Rosalind Chao) and their mothers.
SHORT FILM CORNER:
Indradevi – ‘Idols’
Director: Gregory Cahill
A mysterious late-night phone call triggers a rescue mission into a demonic underworld.
Wash it! (Leang Sam Art!)
Director: Darren Teale, Suzanne James
Leang Sam Art (Wash It!) is an original music track and video by WaterAid Cambodia, Epic Arts and Junction 15 Productions to transform the hygiene and hand washing behaviors of Cambodians and revolutionize health in Cambodia.
KHEMA
Director: Sokharo Hang
An authentic story about the memories of a Cambodian dancer confronting her past as a child who obsesses with classical dance
Year Zero
Director: David Siev
When the Khmer Rouge regime seized Cambodia in 1975, the country plunged into civil war and was ravaged by mass killings, torture, and famine. The Khmer soldiers were cold and ruthless, fully embodying Pol Pot’s philosophy towards the common people: “to kill you is no loss, to keep you is no benefit.” Faced with hunger and starvation, two brothers risk everything to ensure their survival, even with the odds stacked against them.
Palm Tree
Director: Pov Piseth, Rotha Soung
Daro is a young man of 20 years old. He comes from a poor family in Kampong Speu province. His father collects fruits on palm trees. After he graduated from high school in Kampong Speu, he gets a scholarship to study in Phnom Penh. There, he decides to hide his poor family situation.
Sothea
Director: Kate-Marie Engberg
When Sothea witnesses corruption at work, she has to decide morally and financially how to proceed. Will she be complicit or risk her job and security? This story leads us into one thread in the tapestry of modern-day Phnom Penh.
The Morning After
Director: Leanne Mangan
An Aussie backpacker wakes in a Cambodian rice field, with no memory of the night before. Who does he believe? What has he forgotten?
Lost World
Director: Kalyanee Mam
As Singapore dredges sand out from beneath Cambodia’s mangrove forests, an ecosystem, a communal way of life, and one woman’s relationship to her beloved home are faced with the threat of erasure.