Cambodia Rising

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Film Business Asia | 24 October 2014

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Production Feature

Cambodia is enjoying a renaissance, judging from a growing number of local and international productions in recent years. As the war-torn country has become more developed economically and socially, its filming infrastructure is gradually being put in place, making it a hot contestant for the next big filming destination in Asia.
 
"Cambodia is ideal for productions looking for an authentic and timeless Asia, particularly for the Indochina period. Many rural areas have not seen much signs of development, such as power lines and buildings. This allows productions to build their dream set at a very reasonable cost," said Cambodia Film Commission (CFC) CEO Cedric ELOY.
 
Since its inception in 2009, CFC has facilitated over 250 foreign productions, including about 30 feature films partially or entirely shot in Cambodia. Recent productions include Erick ZONCA's Indochina war drama The White Soldier Soldat blanc; Australian film Ruin about two lonely young Cambodians (which won the special jury prize in Venice's Horizons section); and Oscar-winning director Régis WARGNIER's The Gate Le temps des aveux as the first France-Cambodia co-production following the signing of the new co-production treaty last December.
 
Eloy highlighted the feedback from foreign producers: "Cambodia has a great variety of locations in small perimeters. Productions could settle in one point and access, in less than one hour, other locations such as beaches, rivers, mountains, jungles, paddy fields and colonial towns."
 
A major upcoming production featuring Cambodia is Lorraine LÉVY's Afloat, adapted from Catherine GUILLEBAUD's novel Exercice d'abandon. French actors Nathalie BAYE and Benoît POELVOORDE star as two tourists on a Mekong River cruise who feel drawn to each other when their respective partners run off together. The shoot is scheduled to start in early 2015.
 
Cambodia is also a choice destination for TV reality game shows such as The Amazing Race and Survivor from various host countries, as well as new TV reality concepts attracted by the accessible wilderness of Cambodia. Such productions are being made all year round since 2012, employing hundreds of locals and generating a major income for the country.
 
Given its fiscal system is still in its infancy, Eloy said that Cambodia offers low costs. The daily rate, for instance, for an experienced production manager with language skills is US$60. There is also a tax-free process for importing gears from abroad for film productions.
 
The local crew base is expanding rapidly. Compared to 2009 when there was only about 40 crew, now there are over 200, mainly thanks to CFC's training programmes and on the job training. As the local crew is gaining more experience from foreign projects, some of them venture out to make local films.

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A shining example is Kulikar SOTHO who has worked her way up across all departments since Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001. Through Hanuman Films, most recently she produced Ruin while her directorial debut The Last Reel (pictured) will world premiere within the Tokyo International Film Festival 東京国際映画祭's Asian Future competition. The latter is a Khmer-language film featuring Dy SAVETH, one of the few surviving actors from the golden age of Cambodian cinema, in a film-within-a-film which looks back at the country's painful past.

The recent Busan festival recognised Cambodia with various prizes. Produced by Rithy PANH ប៉ាន់ រិទ្ធី, Guillaume SUON's The Storm Makers about human trafficking won the BIFF Mecenet Award for an Asian film at the Wide Angle documentary section; French-Cambodian director Davy CHOU took the Arte International Prize for his new project Diamond Island at the Asian Project Market; the Asian Film Academy awarded Sambath CHEY a scholarship for a four-week filmmaking workshop at the New York Film Academy; and CFC was named best booth at Bifcom.
CFC, now the first port of call for filming in Cambodia, was initiated by Oscar nominee Panh, along with the support from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the French Agency for Development. Eloy was tasked with setting up the structure of CFC and training the local CFC management team.

CFC is also the organisers of the Cambodia International Film Festival. Now in its fifth edition, the festival plays in six venues across Phnom Penh, with an audience base of over 11,000 people. The Gate and The Last Reel will be screened at the upcoming festival running from Dec 5-10.