The Cambodia International Film Festival returns in early March for its eighth edition, with more than 130 films scheduled over six days and the expected attendance of more than 70 filmmakers from 16 countries.
Beginning on March 5, the films will be screened across 10 venues around Phnom Penh, with admission free on a first come, first served basis, with last-minute tickets at $1.25.
While the selection of Cambodian films is not as large as last year’s, there are a handful of highlights. Among them is the premiere of Surviving Bokator, a documentary five years in the making by a Canadian crew about the Cambodian martial art.
Other local premieres include Angkar, a documentary by French-Cambodian director Neary Adeline Hay about her father’s return to Cambodia for the first time since the Khmer Rouge.
There will also be the first screening of a restored version of the film 12 Sisters (Puthysen Neang Kong Rey) by 1960s director Ly Bun Yim.
At a press conference for the festival yesterday, Ministry of Culture Cinema Department representative Sok Song said the event was another opportunity to show off the country as a potential filmmaking destination.
