CamboFest, Cambodia Film Festival
Encyclopedia
CamboFest is an international film festival
in Cambodia
started in 2007 by Camerado
. It is Cambodia's first internationally recognized film festival, and one of the first regular international movie events in Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge
era.
The event, which is privately funded, showcases "international and local film and video makers in order to help revive a bona fide cinema industry and movie culture in Cambodia." The festival also serves to "promote awareness of IP (Intellectual Property
) practices in the Cambodian media and motion picture sector by securing public performance permissions for every movie we screen from copyright holders."
The CamboFest's award is the 'Grabay Meas' (Golden Waterbuffalo) trophy.
In its first two years, CamboFest was held in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. A dedicated, 'Youtube'-style online video portal was also utilized for the 2007 and 2008 ediitons as an online venue, but this component was abandoned later due to bandwidth and user access (Digital Divide
) limitations.http://www.scribd.com/doc/37603222/Entertainment-Education-E-E-in-the-Cambodian-Context
The third (2009) edition of CamboFest took place in the vintage Cambodian 'Royal' cinema hall, in Kampot, Cambodia, which was re-discovered by CamboFest staff who were scouting reputed vintage cinema houses in the area. Only a handful of older local Cambodians knew of the 'Royal', which had lain unused since 1989 after a brief post Khmer Rouge comeback.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvB_loaeCHM
Despite the efforts of foreign movie pirates who attempted to stymie the 2009 event with a series of phony press releases and fake classified ads in the Phnom Penh Post
, the 2009 historically significant 'Royal' edition of CamboFest was held as planned, from December 4–6, 2009, reviving the once-defunct Cambodian cinema house with a custom screen and power plant installation.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvB_loaeCHMhttp://cameradomoviesandmedia.blogspot.com/2009/12/stills-video-and-other-content-from.html
Enduring a lack of institutional support http://www.idfa.nl/industry/markets-funding/vrijman-fund/Submit-your-project.aspxhttp://cambodia.usembassy.gov/http://www.artsnetworkasia.org/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/phnompenh following the 3rd edition's challenges at the hands of expatriate pranksters and movie pirates, individual contributors stepped in to fill the gap instead http://cameradosocialissue.blogspot.com/2010/11/make-contribution-to-cambofest-cambodia.html and CamboFest's fourth edition took place in Kampot, Cambodia on March 2-6, 2011. Dates were publicly listed as March 1-9 to render potential pranks and last minute Cambodian government 'variances' less problematic for the event. (*no notable interference was sustained at the 4th edition)
Notable undertakings at the festival's 4th edition included the training of a local Cambodian youth group, the Youth Association for Human Resource Development (YAHRD) http://yahrd.wordpress.com/, who set up and operated all equipment, changed screeners, greeted and informed guests, conducted outreach and publicity, and essentially ran the entire event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XKf4Ew3NBc Their efforts culminated in the long-awaited official Cambodian premiere of Robert Flaherty's 'Nanook of the North
' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-fO2vsK9x4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-a7-EG0A98, with live Khmer narration provided by the youth group. The film screened in Cambodia 88 years after its initial release with the permission of the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar http://flahertyseminar.org/
In 2011, CamboFest commenced an international traveling festival edition, with its first stop in North America taking place in New York City courtesy of New Filmmakers. http://www.newfilmmakersonline.com/movie-download/41039,4397/Jason-Rosette-Cambodia-Film-Festival-CAMBOFEST. This marks the first time a Cambodian film festival will travel internationally, with further host venues around the world sought and welcomed on an ongoing basis.
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
started in 2007 by Camerado
Camerado
Camerado is a commercial film, video and multimedia production group that produces independent, multicultural-themed films, videos, and media events with a prosocial agenda....
. It is Cambodia's first internationally recognized film festival, and one of the first regular international movie events in Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
era.
The event, which is privately funded, showcases "international and local film and video makers in order to help revive a bona fide cinema industry and movie culture in Cambodia." The festival also serves to "promote awareness of IP (Intellectual Property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
) practices in the Cambodian media and motion picture sector by securing public performance permissions for every movie we screen from copyright holders."
The CamboFest's award is the 'Grabay Meas' (Golden Waterbuffalo) trophy.
In its first two years, CamboFest was held in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. A dedicated, 'Youtube'-style online video portal was also utilized for the 2007 and 2008 ediitons as an online venue, but this component was abandoned later due to bandwidth and user access (Digital Divide
Digital divide
The Digital Divide refers to inequalities between individuals, households, business, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels in access to information and communication technologies and Internet connectivity and in the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the information...
) limitations.http://www.scribd.com/doc/37603222/Entertainment-Education-E-E-in-the-Cambodian-Context
The third (2009) edition of CamboFest took place in the vintage Cambodian 'Royal' cinema hall, in Kampot, Cambodia, which was re-discovered by CamboFest staff who were scouting reputed vintage cinema houses in the area. Only a handful of older local Cambodians knew of the 'Royal', which had lain unused since 1989 after a brief post Khmer Rouge comeback.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvB_loaeCHM
Despite the efforts of foreign movie pirates who attempted to stymie the 2009 event with a series of phony press releases and fake classified ads in the Phnom Penh Post
Phnom Penh Post
The Phnom Penh Post is a daily English-language newspaper published in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Founded in 1992 by publisher Michael Hayes, it is Cambodia's oldest English-language newspaper. It is printed in full-color tabloid format. The Phnom Penh Post is also available in Khmer language...
, the 2009 historically significant 'Royal' edition of CamboFest was held as planned, from December 4–6, 2009, reviving the once-defunct Cambodian cinema house with a custom screen and power plant installation.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvB_loaeCHMhttp://cameradomoviesandmedia.blogspot.com/2009/12/stills-video-and-other-content-from.html
Enduring a lack of institutional support http://www.idfa.nl/industry/markets-funding/vrijman-fund/Submit-your-project.aspxhttp://cambodia.usembassy.gov/http://www.artsnetworkasia.org/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/phnompenh following the 3rd edition's challenges at the hands of expatriate pranksters and movie pirates, individual contributors stepped in to fill the gap instead http://cameradosocialissue.blogspot.com/2010/11/make-contribution-to-cambofest-cambodia.html and CamboFest's fourth edition took place in Kampot, Cambodia on March 2-6, 2011. Dates were publicly listed as March 1-9 to render potential pranks and last minute Cambodian government 'variances' less problematic for the event. (*no notable interference was sustained at the 4th edition)
Notable undertakings at the festival's 4th edition included the training of a local Cambodian youth group, the Youth Association for Human Resource Development (YAHRD) http://yahrd.wordpress.com/, who set up and operated all equipment, changed screeners, greeted and informed guests, conducted outreach and publicity, and essentially ran the entire event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XKf4Ew3NBc Their efforts culminated in the long-awaited official Cambodian premiere of Robert Flaherty's 'Nanook of the North
Nanook of the North
Nanook of the North is a 1922 silent documentary film by Robert J. Flaherty. In the tradition of what would later be called salvage ethnography, Flaherty captured the struggles of the Inuk Nanook and his family in the Canadian arctic...
' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-fO2vsK9x4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-a7-EG0A98, with live Khmer narration provided by the youth group. The film screened in Cambodia 88 years after its initial release with the permission of the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar http://flahertyseminar.org/
In 2011, CamboFest commenced an international traveling festival edition, with its first stop in North America taking place in New York City courtesy of New Filmmakers. http://www.newfilmmakersonline.com/movie-download/41039,4397/Jason-Rosette-Cambodia-Film-Festival-CAMBOFEST. This marks the first time a Cambodian film festival will travel internationally, with further host venues around the world sought and welcomed on an ongoing basis.
External links
- CamboFest website
- The Strand, BBC
- http://www.fest21.com/en/user/cambofest Fest21
- CamboFest, Withoutabox
- http://www.scribd.com/doc/37603222/Entertainment-Education-E-E-in-the-Cambodian-Context, 'Entertainment-Education in the Cambodian Context'
- CamboFest 2007
- CamboFest 2008