CTFF 2019 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: LY BUN YIM
CTFF 2019 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Honoring Legendary Director: LY BUN YIM
Ly Bun Yim was born in 1942 in Kompong Cham Province in eastern Cambodia. While still at school, he began taking photographs and developing the film himself, even experimenting with a homemade enlarger and with hand colouring. He spent his final school year at the Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh. With the proceeds from the sale of a pharmacy he had opened with his brother shortly after graduating, in 1960 Ly Bun Yim bought a 16mm camera and film in Hong Kong.
In 1961, he set up his own production company, Runteas Pich (Flash Diamond Pictures), and made his first film, Thunderbolt in the Family (Runteas Kroursa), which was a great success in Phnom Penh. In 1966, he bought a cinema in Phnom Penh, and a second one in 1974. A few months later, the Khmer Rouge seized Phnom Penh. Ly Bun Yim was able to flee to Vietnam in 1976, and a year later, he emigrated to France, where he opened a restaurant and established a taxi company. In 1985, he founded Flash Diamond Movie Production in California, which made a series of videos and promotional films for local companies. In 1994, Ly Bun Yim returned to Phnom Penh, where he now lives.
His films include: 1961: Thunderbolt in the Family (Runteas Kroursa). 1965: Sobbseth. 1968: 12 Sisters (Puthisen Neang Kongrey). 1969: Ithik Sovann Chan Kesor. 1972: Khmer After Angkor (Orn Euy Srey Orn). 1975: The Sea Horse (Ses Samoth).
