CTFF 2019 Official Selection: BOPHANA Center Presents
BOPHANA Center Presents
10 very compelling documentary short films presented by the “BOPHANA Center”
Language: Khmer with English subtitles
World Premiere! FREE SCREENINGS!
Screening: Sunday, September 15th, 11:00am at Art Theatre Long Beach. GET FREE TICKETS IN PERSON AT THEATRE, FIRST COME FIRST SERVE
CYCLO, CAMBODIAN HERITAGE (11 min)
Language: Khmer with English subtitles
Synopsis: Mr. Pol Horn is a cyclo rider in Phnom Penh’s Central Market zone. For 29 years he has spent his life with his cyclo. Nowadays, it’s hard to find passengers because they prefer Tuk Tuk ride. He earns less than 20,000 riels per day, but he still tries to save money to send to his wife and children at home. He also has lung disease and tuberculosis. He cannot make enough money to buy medicine to treat these diseases.
Director: Leng Vunneng, 17 years old, Tumpuon, from Ratanakiri province, Cambodia
Drugs destroyed the harmony in Vunneng’s community. They cause domestic violence with wives and children as innocent victims. Apart from drugs, the women and children in the indigenous communities of Tumpuon face problems such as school abandonment, poverty, difficult access to employment, traditional occupations, use of alcohol, etc. Vunneng hopes to gain skills through the film school that will help him and his community in the future.
ICE-CREAM (9 min)
Language: Khmer with English subtitles
Synopsis: Leap Heng, a 34-year-old man from Tbong Khmum province, is an ice-cream seller. Every day, he pushes his ice-cream cart from Olympic zone to the Kandal Market, and every night, at eight o’clock, he returns home. He has been living with his ice-cream cart for 8 years. He earns little money daily to satisfy his hunger and send money to his family in the hometown to get out of debt.
Director: Sev Poav, 22 years old, Jarai, from Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia
Rape and murder are sensitive issues which cause fear among women and girls in the Jarai community. Pao adds that the older people of his community do not encourage their children to study, and even forbid them to express themselves in public. Nevertheless, Pao is determined to encourage the women in his community and to amplify their voice.
MOTHER’S HEART (9 min)
Language: Khmer with English subtitles
Synopsis: Due to difficulty to find a job in the hometown, and the agricultural work has been completely replaced by machines, Mrs. Ly Lai was forced to migrate to work in Phnom Penh. Every day, she tries to scavenge from place to place. The rest of the money from the meal, about 500 riels to 10,000 riels, is for paying the home rent, water, electricity, sending to her parents, and most importantly, epilepsy medical treatment for her son.
Directors:
Proel Pring, 26 years old, Kuoy, from Banteay Meanchey province, Cambodia
In the community where Pring lives, the challenges faced by women include limited knowledge, migration, rejection by the parents, and a lack of attention in the community. Pring wants to share his knowledge with women and children in his community, and uses the newly gained film production skills to contribute his share to the empowerment of women and children in his community.
Muong Veth, 21 years old, Kreung from Ratanakiri province, Cambodia
Trafficking of women and children, rapes, and homicides due to rape are common problems in the Kreung community. For Veth, and other participants, documentary films are a tool to promote and to spotlight women and children’s rights. He believes that it is a must to empower these groups and to give them a voice.
NOODLE SELLER (7.3 min)
Language: Khmer with English subtitles
Synopsis: Carrying a couple buckets and walking on Phnom Penh’s alley, Mrs. Soun Noth try to empty her buckets by selling Khmer noodle, a job she started since 1993. Back home in Kampot province, her husband plays a mother role taking care of children. She rent a house in Phnom Penh collectively with her female villagers who share the same job. Earning less than 10 USD a day, she faces many challenges. Sometimes, she places buckets in forbidden place and the two buckets are seized or she is insulted. Finding the job as her only choice, she moves forwards to support her family and children’s future.
Director: Ret Sithort, 24 years old, Bunong, from Mondulkiri province, Cambodia
This indigenous young person sees the problems which women and girls have to face in his community especially in materialism and a lack of education. Sithort wants to use films, a medium he is passionate about since his childhood, to support the empowerment of women and children and to enable them to live equally and without discrimination.
I HOPE ONE DAY (6.5 min)
Language: Khmer with English subtitles
Synopsis: A little girl, Cheng Srey Pov, is the fifth of seven children. Nowadays, Srey Pov and her younger sister usually scavenge under the heat of the sun. The little money she earns, she always gives her mother to buy rice. The day that Srey Pov makes a lot of money is the day she is able to go to school. In her dream, she just wants to learn as much as others. She hopes that one day her family life will be better.
Director: Din Roda, 18 years old, Cambodian, from Banteay Meanchey province, Cambodia
Domestic violence, drug trafficking and drug use, and unemployment are the main problems encountered by women and children in his community. He hopes that through this training he will be able to make educational films, in order to share them with his community as well as other Cambodians.
THE LIFE UNDER THE SUNSHINE (8 min)
Language: Khmer with English subtitles
Synopsis: Mr. Mok Doeurn is a former soldier from Kampong Thom province. In 1980, he left his hometown to find a job in Phnom Penh. First, he was a Cyclo rider, then a construction worker. Since these jobs require strong strength with many risks, while revenue is also lower, he decided to sell dry clams. Clams have raising his whole family. Somebody says that clams are not clean and no hygiene at all… but he also wants to win these rumors.
Director: Blong Saroeun, 20 years old, Kreung, from Ratanakiri province, Cambodia
Apart from domestic violence, Saroeurn’s community suffers from problems such as school abandonment, discrimination, and early marriage. Saroeurn’s wish is to shoot a film that’s dealing with these issues. Furthermore, Saroeurn wants to produce documentaries to spread the knowledge of and about the indigenous communities in Cambodia.
SOUL ALIVE, BODY DEAD (9 min)
Language: Khmer with English subtitles
Synopsis: Mrs. So Dy now is working as a fortune-teller. She is living in the pagoda in Phnom Penh with her daughter. Working as a fortune-teller, she could find the money to support her life and support her daughter school fee. Even she has a sprite to predict many things, but her life and living situation is depending only on wheelchairs.
Director: Phok Rany, 27 years old, Cambodian, from Ratanakiri province, Cambodia
“Women are as capable as men” is the statement that inspired Rany to leave her hometown and to study in Phnom Penh in 2010. In her community, there are two major issues affecting women and indigenous children. Those are health and education issues. She aims to inform women in her community about the importance of education and to encourage them to pursue their dreams.
THE LAKE OF LIFE (8.5 min)
Language: Khmer with English subtitles
Synopsis: Mrs. Em Phon is a lotus rhizome seller. Every day, she always sells the lotus rhizome near her home and on the street in Phnom Penh city to earn more income for her family. Although she has many children, and her children did not go to school, so her family was still working hard. Only the lake is the last breath of her family’s life.
Director: Heng Minea, 21 years old, Cambodian, from Banteay Meanchey province, Cambodia
“I want to make a film about livelihood and my mum’s life”. Minea was a victim of domestic violence in her family, and she has the courage to reveal it. Minea’s purpose in this training is to use film as a possibility to spotlight violations of women and children’s rights.
I AM STILL ALIVE (8.5 min)
Language: Khmer with English subtitles
Synopsis: Mrs. Ouk Channy is a destitute woman living with HIV. After her husband died, she had to take care of her children and grandchildren alone. Nowadays, she has been subjected to tremendous pressure and discrimination from others. Even her family members also have been victims of discrimination. Though she has small body and poliomyelitis, but her two remaining arms still try to push her cart and scavenge on the street. Most of her income was spent on medicine only.
Director: Loeurn Chhouk, 20 years old, Kuoy, from Bantheay Meanchey province, Cambodia
One of the difficulties Chhouk’s village has to face is the distance of schools and hospitals. Moreover, others belittle the women in his village. He sees racism as the cause of the women’s depressions. Chhouk, who loves the cinema, joins the film training because he believes that cinema can contribute its share to the country’s development.
HOME OF THE DEAD COPY (5.2 min)
Language: Khmer with English subtitles
Synopsis: Mr. Rus Song, 42, was born in Pursat, a province famous for marble sculptures. He worked very hard, starting from learning to carve until he continued to study the carving at the Royal School of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh. He learned and worked at the same time. He is currently a marble cremation urn sculptor at a shop in Phnom Penh
Director: Mang Lean, 23 years old, Tumpuon, from Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia
Lien thinks that the inhabitants of his community are poor, due to the traditional rice planting practice they still use. The young man from the Tumpuon ethnic also aims to highlight the problems of women and children in his community through documentary films. In the future, Lien wants to be a film director, and he is looking forward to sharing the knowledge he gains at the film training with other indigenous communities in Ratanakiri.
