Organization
Cambodia Film Commission
The Cambodia Film Commission is a Cambodian organization that was set up in 2009 to help foreign film productions shoot in Cambodia.[1][2] It was named in 2010 among the organizers of the first Cambodia International Film Festival and organized the festival in 2013. It has run free short-film courses with the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, the seventh announced in June 2024.[3][4][5]
History
The commission was established in 2009 with money from France's Agency for Overseas Development.[1][2] Screen Daily called it the first body in Cambodia set up to help productions from abroad film in the country.[2] At its launch, Cedric Eloy was its chief executive and Cheap Sovichea its director.[1][2]
The commission presented itself to the film industry in October 2009 at a locations showcase in Busan, South Korea.[1][2] Eloy said: "Our office acts as a filter for the ministry and can get shooting permits issued within a couple of weeks."[1] He added that crews had to bring their own cameras, but that modern lighting and grip equipment was available locally.[2]
Cambodia offered no production incentives in 2009. Its draws were low costs and many kinds of locations, and foreign film productions paid no import tax.[2] The government had also set aside funds to improve the filmmaking infrastructure, which the Khmer Rouge years had destroyed.[2] Earlier foreign shoots in the country included Tomb Raider in 2000, the Korean film R-Point and Same Same But Different.[1][2]
Film festival
The commission was one of four organizers named for the first Cambodia International Film Festival, announced in August 2010 with the ministry as host. The others were FX Entertainment, Kmy Films and the Association of Filmmakers of Cambodia.[3] In 2013 the commission organized the festival with the Bophana Center, and Eloy was head of the commission.[4]
By June 2024, Cheap Sovichea was director of the commission and Eloy was director of the festival. Both were present at the press conference for its 13th edition in Phnom Penh.[6]
Training
The ministry has run free short-film courses for young adults with the commission's Cine-Hub. In June 2024 it announced the seventh, a three-month course from August to October for 40 trainees aged 20 to 35.[5] Classes were to cover directing, screenwriting, cinematography and sound mixing. The trainees were then to be split into three groups, each to produce one short film.[5] Cheap Sovichea said that young producers "had only made films by watching others' work, without the correct film grammar".[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 The Hollywood Reporter, Patrick Frater, Cambodia ready for its close-up (October 12, 2009)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Screen Daily, Liz Shackleton, Cambodia, Japan film commissions come into focus (October 14, 2009)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Screen Daily, Sarah Cooper, Cambodia launches first film festival (August 17, 2010)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Cambodia Daily, Azucena Moran, Festival to Show Eclectic Mix Of Cambodian, Foreign Films (December 3, 2013)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Cambodianess, Po Sakun, Free Classes Offered for Young Filmmakers (June 26, 2024)
- ↑ Cambodge Mag, Phnom Penh & Cinema: Cambodia International Film Festival, "Together, embark on a cinematic journey to enlighten, inspire and unite" (June 24, 2024)