Tuesday, 26 January 2010

Cambodia to host international film festival



via CAAI News Media

Monday, 25 January 2010 15:00 Dene Mullen

LATER this year film fans will be able to wean themselves off their usual diet of pirate DVDs, for a few days at least, when the first annual Cambodian International Film Festival takes place in Phnom Penh.

Scheduled to run from October 20 to 23, the Kingdom’s inaugural cinematic event was announced at a press conference Thursday at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.

Mariam Arthur, CEO of Kmy Films, one of the event’s co-organisers, said there would be between 30 and 50 films shown at various indoor and outdoor venues across the city. Outdoor events will be free and will likely be dubbed in Khmer, while indoor screenings will carry an as-yet-undecided admission fee.

Allan Cheung, chief marketing officer of FX Entertainment, the event’s main organiser alongside the ministry, said, “FX Entertainment is committed to creating an event … that will both impress the international community and help develop the Khmer industry”.

The idea of collaboration between Khmer and international filmmakers was high on the agenda, as was using the festival to promote Cambodia as a tourism and moviemaking destination.

Precise details of what films will be shown were not released but a statement from festival organisers promised “international independent films, award-winning documentaries, classic and modern Khmer films, youth-oriented films and films made in Cambodia”.

The film-loving public holds its breath.

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