Free Classes Offered for Young Filmmakers
Photo: Thmey Thmey News
- By Po Sakun
- June 26, 2024 3:15 PM
PHNOM PENH – The Cinema & Cultural Diffusion Department will run free short-film production classes for talented young adults who are passionate about the craft.
They will be the seventh courses initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts with Cine-Hub of the Cambodia Film Commission.
Lasting three months, the training will focus on directing, screenwriting, cinematography and sound mixing. There are also other related subjects.
Department director Pok Borak said this short course is important for the filmmaking industry as there is not yet a filmmaking school. The training will allow the trainees to produce short films with good quality, technical elements and correct film grammar.
“We are also looking for cooperation opening a filmmaking school in Cambodia,” Borak added. However, he did not give further details as the work is in progress.
Cheap Sovichea, director of Cambodia Film Commission, said the young producers thus far had only made films by watching others’ work, without the correct film grammar, while their creativity for screenwriting to attract audiences was still limited.
Making a film includes many technical elements such as composition, sound mixing, lighting, and staging to produce an attractive piece. Therefore, it was important for producers to know all these techniques, Sovichea added.
For starters, trainees should already know how to take photos, read novels or watch movies, and summarize short stories.
“Our course is free. However, they may need a budget for a short-film production with their team at the end of the course. We are looking for the fund, and if our partners could not fund enough, we may need the trainees to fund the project themselves,” Sovichea said.
The films produced by trainees are usually screened at national and international theatres in the country. Good films may also be screened in international festivals, Sovichea added.
Award-winning screenwriter Ines Sothea, who is a trainer in the course, said previous trainees did not watch short films much, and the teaching and learning did not match well at the time.
“They did not watch many short films, so we had a hard time understanding each other,” Sothea said.
Trainees can watch many free and paid award-winning films that are available on YouTube to find their favorite genre and director from whom they can learn. Therefore, they will be able to produce quality short films after the course, she added.
Another trainer, Mony Darung, a director/writer, noted the previous trainees changed a lot in their perspectives, and started watching more movies. They were able to differentiate levels of filmmaking and cinematographic techniques.
“Watching movies produced by various countries allows them to produce films with good quality and national diversity. Movies can change our perspectives and lives,” Darung said.
Sovichea called on all trainees who are selected for the course to join classes regularly to catch up with the program.
The criteria for trainee selection includes those aged 20-to-35. Forty trainees will take part from August to October with the course being divided into three phases.
The first phase is an online class on the weekends, focusing on scenario writing. The second is about screenwriting, directing, cinematography, and sound mixing in a physical classroom. In the third phase, trainees will be divided into three groups with an assignment to produce one short film each.
Applicants can submit their forms — which can be filled online through a Google Form or on the hard copy — at the Cambodia Film Commission every working day or contact +855(0)16 320 895 and +855(0)77 336 654. The deadline is July 6.
Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this story was translated by Meng Seavmey for Cambodianess.
