• Society

The Chaktomuk Short Film Festival to Kick off with Outstanding Films

• By Teng Yalirozy
• October 27, 2023 8:50 AM

PHNOM PENH – The 12th edition of the Chaktomuk Short Film Festival presents this year a program of 48 exceptional films that will be shown at major cinemas in Phnom Penh from Oct. 27 through 30.  Six Cambodian films and eight international films will be put for competition.

As Festival Director Sum Sithen explained, there will be less films shown compared to last year’s 55 films, but the films selected are in a class of their own and will truly appeal to the audience. The screenings will be at Legend Cinema, Legend Premium, and Major Cineplex by Smart.

“Film is for thinking and developing oneself,” he said during a press conference on Oct. 23. “It is something that can leave a huge impact on your life for the better.

“Short film is a format in itself,” Sithen explained. “It is not a feature film or a music video. Every short film has a story…a short story we tell on the screen with audiovisual effects. So, it works.”

This year, a total of 211 films—63 Cambodians, including 30 fiction films, and 148 international ones, including 112 fictions—were submitted to the festival organizers. In 2022, the festival had accepted 185 short films and selected 55 entries for competition and to showcase.

The Cambodian film competition includes “Now What?” by Chong Sievphin, “The Pen” by Song Hemkiry, “A Day” by Phom Mota, “Just Watch” by Phat Chan Hak, “Erased” by Ly Chee, and “The Door Knocker” by Sok Pilot and Sana Oungty.

Song Hemkiry, a producer of “The Pen,” said this short film is about a pen that is being used by everyone on every occasion. But, when the ink runs out, the pen is considered useless and dumped.

Metaphorically, things or people are likely to be abandoned when they no longer serve their set purpose, which is a sad reality in humanity, he said.

“One day, I was deep in thought and saw a pen on the table,” Hemkiry said. “Suddenly, the concept for the film came to me…I wanted to showcase something that people tend to overlook. Simple things around us can be a very good concept and idea for film production.”

Hemkiry is a designer who produces short animation. He became involved in filmmaking just last year, figuring out that he had the ambition of producing meaningful and quality films in Cambodia, he said.

Short films in the country usually range from two-to-30 minutes although short films can be up to 70 minutes, especially international ones, Sithen said.

So, for each screening at the cinemas during the festival, many films will be shown since each screening will last two hours, he said.

This year, part of the strategy is to encourage partners and participants to take part in activities by sending their students to attend workshops and screenings, and promote screenings on their platforms, Sithen said.

“So that this is also their festival, not just ours,” he said. “So, they can take ownership of what we have done so far. And in the future, the Chaktomuk Short Film Festival can resonate with all these partners in the whole community.”

According to Sithen, the public for the festival consists of filmmakers, young and old, artists, students and the general public. But in terms of general audience, the festival mainly attracts a young audience: students and young Cambodians. 

Admission is free, although contributions are welcome as, in spite of support and contributions, the festival operates on a very small budget, Sithen said.

“We would like to provide more to the audience,” he said. “If they come and see the films, it will mean a lot for the future of Cambodian filmmakers…If they come and see their films, they will be encouraged to make more films in the future. The benefits will be for them to develop into filmmakers of feature films.”

For more information on the festival: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=904441644577501&set=pb.100050350215835.-2207520000&type=3

Michelle Vachon contributed to the story.