Establishing a film industry in Cambodia was a special concern for King Sihanouk. He made all together almost 50 fiction and documentary films. Cambodia was a Sleeping Beauty waiting to be awakened, but today the film industry's glorious days are returning, thanks to such Khmer filmmakers as Rithy Panh, Chhay Bora, Kulikar Sotho, Davy Chou, Kalyanee Mam, Kavich Neang, Daron Ker, Thet Sambath, Rithea Phichith, Sothea Chhin, Polen Lee and Sok Visal and those foreign film directors who chose the country for filming location:
Won Kar Wai in the Mood for Love (2001) The final scene was shot inside Angkor Wat temple. Simon West: Lara Croft –Tomb Raider (2001); Matt Dillon: City of Ghost (2002); Jean-Jacque Arnaud's Two Brothers (2004); Guy Moshe: Holly (2006); Ferenc Moldoványi: Another Planet (2006); Mike McCoy/Scott Waugh: Act of Valor (2009); Detlev Buck: Same Same but Different (2010); Almayer's Folly / La Folie Almayer (2012); Kieran Darcy-Smith: Wish you were here (2013); Régis Wargnier: The Gate (2014); Angelina Jolie: First They Killed My Father (2015)
…not to mention the various travel documentaries like the popular Bicycle Diaries (Sg), Jobs Without Frontiers (B), Rayil Sneham (Sg) or the chef Gordon Ramsay’s Great Escape (UK) and the Survivor Reality TV Show (US).
Cambodia is known to be the Land of Smiles. You can experience the kindness of Khmer people even if you’re working hard on the set for many days or even weeks. Khmers are not only hard workers but often speak even good English. Thanks to the Cambodian Film Commission (CFC), first of all to Mr. Cedric Eloy and Mr. Sovichea Cheap, the hard working Khmer film crew members now have a chance to work on international productions already for a while. CFC itself is organizing intensive film making workshops and also providing adequate info to help major producers and line producers. Although those film making training courses are getting more and more popular there is no film school in Cambodia as yet. With the help of the Cambodian government, jointly with foreign investors, this will may change in the near future.
PSE orphanage created a film school for orphans residing at their center. Whilst the Department of Media and Communication (DMC) of the Royal University of Phnom Penh specializes in journalism.
Production infrastructure in general is not quite as developed in this country as in the neighboring Thailand but filming equipment, cameras and lighting devices are available in limited selection. Dry hire, however, is not always possible and equipment mainly come with assigned operator and supervisor. Rates vary by rental lengths, budget and availability. Obtaining filming permits is bureaucratic, it takes from a few days to weeks and provided by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. For documentary and commercial shootings it can be obtain also from the Ministry of Interior.
Note: The Apsara Authority is entitled to deliver filming permit for the temples inside Angkor Archeological Park only after the General Filming Permit was obtained from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. It takes time and very costly. A story-board, script or detailed description of treatment, included the desired locations is required in order to perform a database search.
Cambodia is one of the fastest growing economies in the region of South-East Asia, easily doubles Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar or the Philippines. Its picturesque landscape has made it already a popular location for international filmmakers, especially for small-scale projects, but not only, occasionally is it chosen also for high-profile, big-budget shootings.
Phnom Penh’s scenery changes quickly. Today there is luxury building boom and skyscrapers are growing from nothing like mushrooms. Since last summer trains are running again to and from the capital and there are a huge number of luxurious cars on the streets. Tuk-tuks and motodops easily navigate in the traffic jam, while cyclo drivers ply the streets with great craft. The beautiful riverside landscape of the Mekong River provides a good choice for filmmakers to show a different face of the city. Pagodas, slums, 5 star hotels, casinos, skyscrapers, the Chaktomuk Hall and the Royal Palace, they are all on the menu.
10 years ago, in 2006, when we filmed director Ferenc Moldovanyi’s multi award winning feature documentary ‘Another Planet’ about child labor, we showed the darker side of the city. We portrayed the life of scavenger children on Smokey Mountain, Steung Mean Chey, Phnom Penh’s municipal rubbish dump and in a brick factory at the outskirts, where dozens of young children were making bricks all day.
Last year we shot Rayil Sneham’s 2nd Season, a travel documentary for MediaCorp / Vasantham, the Singapore based Tamil language television network. We traveled around the country to show real Cambodia.
The mixed Indian and Singaporean crew arrived on mainland from Thailand and crossed the border at Poipet. Although they came later then expected, we successfully managed custom clearance, even after official opening hours. Filming itself took three weeks, featuring some of the most famous temples in Angkor Archeological Park, the young artisans of Siem Reap , Kampong Kleang floating village, in Battambang the “prahoks” and spring roll paper makers and the modern life of Phnom Penh, then we moved to Kampot and up to the Bokor Hill. The Phare Circus was also on our list and the world-famous pepper plantations. Next stop was Kep, filming the sea salt harvest and the crab market. Kep is Cambodia's gem on the Gulf of Thailand, where the royal family and government officials would vacation back to the early twenties. We then headed to Sihanoukville to enjoy the sunshine on sandy beaches and finished our mission hundreds of miles farther, at the Hill tribes of Mondulkiri, before the crew crossed the border to Vietnam.
Another interesting reality series project we finished just a few months ago, together with the Belgian Sputnik Media. We showed how Cambodia’s Yantra tattoo masters teach tattooing the basics of their sacred ancient art to four Belgian (male and female) candidates. After a few months of pre-production the crew arrived to Cambodia. Those candidates day and night lived and breathed with their local masters for a week and learned how to tattoo the specific “magic patterns” first on fruit and/or pig skin before touching humans. Two directors were in charge to direct the show with two different crews on different locations. Our local Production Managers, with a small numbers of extra crew members, handled all the directors’ requests to everyone’s satisfaction.
Note: pre-production is the key towards your goal. It saves you time, money, and nerves. Please feel free to contact me if you're planning a shoot. I'm flexible, out of the box thinker and available to work all around the globe.
Original article was published on
The Location Guide
