Film
Diamond Island
Diamond Island is a 2016 feature film by Davy Chou about a young construction worker on a luxury development in Phnom Penh.[1] It was Chou's first feature, and it won the SACD Prize in the Critics' Week section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.[2][1]
Synopsis
Bora is 18 when he leaves his village to work on the construction of Diamond Island, an ultra-modern development for the wealthy on the river in Phnom Penh and a symbol of Cambodia's future.[1][3] He makes friends with other young workers.[3] Then his older brother Solei, who disappeared five years earlier, reappears. Solei introduces Bora to the nightlife, girls and illusions of Cambodia's privileged urban youth.[1][3]
Production and credits
Chou filmed some images on Diamond Island in 2010 and used them in his documentary Golden Slumbers. He conceived the new film as a portrait of Cambodia and its youth today, and of what he called the passionate and cruel relationship between young Cambodians and the country's advancing modernity.[4]
Chou wrote the screenplay with Claire Maugendre.[1] Chou looked for young people with no acting experience, since Cambodia has almost no professional actors.[5][2] With his team he spent four months searching Phnom Penh and nearby areas, visiting building sites, factory gates and clubs for workers, and Diamond Island itself.[5] Sobon Nuon plays Bora and Cheanick Nov plays Solei, with Mean Korn, Madeza Chhem, Samnang Khim, Samnang Nut, Jany Min, Sophyna Meng, Batham Oun, Sreyroth Dom, Phara Phon and Sreyleap Hang.[1][5]
Charlotte Vincent produced the film for the French company Aurora Films. Co-producers included Consuelo Frauenfelder, Michael Merkt, Hanneke van der Tas, Soros Sokhum and Chou, and co-production companies included Arte France Cinéma and Anti-Archive.[1] Thomas Favel was director of photography, Vincent Villa recorded the sound, Laurent Leveneur edited the film, and Jérémie Arcache and Christophe Musset composed the music.[1] Support came from funders including the CNC, the Doha Film Institute, the Hubert Bals Fund and the Asian Cinema Fund, and from the Cinema and Cultural Diffusion Department of Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.[1]
The film is a co-production of Cambodia, France, Germany, Qatar and Thailand. It is in Khmer and runs 101 minutes.[1][3] Les Films du Losange handled international sales.[1]
Release and reception
The film had its world premiere in competition at the 2016 Critics' Week in Cannes, where it won the SACD Prize.[3] It went on to win the Golden Gateway Award for Best Film at the Mumbai International Film Festival, the Grand Prix at the Festival du Film Romantique de Cabourg and the Bayard for Best Fiction Film at the Namur International French Film Festival in 2016, and the Tiger Jury Award at CinemAsia Amsterdam and the Golden Taiga Award at the Spirit of Fire Film Festival in 2017.[1]
It opened in French cinemas on December 28, 2016.[4]
References 5
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Anti-Archive, Diamond Island
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Cambodia Daily, New Film to Explore 'Clash' Between Development and Youth (November 21, 2015)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Semaine de la Critique, Diamond Island (2016)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 AlloCiné, Diamond Island (2016)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Les Films du Losange, Diamond Island press kit (2016)
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