Current projects of Khmer Films/Kon

In Cambodia, Kon means “films.” Wherever Cambodians go, they can hardly forget the golden era of Khmer Kons between 60s and 70s. Everything including cinemas and professionals such as movie stars and film-makers were banished and exterminated within four years of civil war.
Anyway, this is the past. Gone with the wind.
TODAY, despite all the political hustle and bustle in Cambodia, there are still a few people endeavoring to make Cambodia a better place to live in through art. That’s because art is a communicating door between culture and its own people and helps them create their own identity.
Outside Cambodia’s local artistic arena, we can see a recent film magazine project (kon.magazine pdf file) led by Professor Tilman Baumgartel and his students from the Department of Media & Communication, and the other ongoing documentary project by Davy Chou who I have written about here and there.
The premier screening of this documentary called “Golden Slumbers,” according to Khmerbird blog, will take place around October or November.
Below is the Golden Slumbers video trailer. 😉

FYI: Most of the Cambodian cinemas have either become restaurants, karaoke parlours, squats or a slum like Hemacheat cinema (a 12-mn video documentary by Neang Sokchea).

Two short-films by a self-made film-maker (Rithea Picheth), a medical student, who is part of Kon Khmer Koun Khmer group.
Chaos

Boyfriend

Useful links:
http://goldenslumbersfilm.wordpress.com (blog of the video where you can find more detail of the video)
http://southeastasiancinema.wordpress.com (blog of Prof. Tilman where he writes prolifically on films in Southeast Asia)
http://khmerbird.com/featured/golden-slumbers-a-documentary-by-davy-chou.html (blogpost about Golden Slumbers)