After the « Un Certain Regard » prize of the Cannes Festival 2013 went to Cambodia with Rithy Panhs « The missing picture », Cambodia returns to La Croisette this year with movies of french-cambodian filmmaker Davy Chou and American-Khmer Garret Atlakson.

In 2013, the “Un Certain Regard” prize was awarded to Rithy Pahn’s  “The Missing Picture”, a film which explored the bloody history of the Pol Pot’s dictatorship. In May 2014, two other sides of Cambodia  will be presented at the Cannes Festival.

Directors Fortnight sidebar will screen Davy Chou’s “Cambodia 2099″, a short film about three young Cambodians that spend an afternoon on Koh Pich island near Phnom Penh. Fisherman island Koh Pich is an object of governmental development program that aims to turn the island into attractive tourist destination. Rapid construction of luxury residential properties contrasts with the old lifestyle of the island, symbolising a dichotomy of modernity and tradition in the whole Cambodia nowadays. The film heroes are wandering around the island, talking about their dreams and imagining their lives in Cambodia of tomorrow. The film is full of tenderness to the young generation of Cambodia.

rights reserved

The next film that will be screened at the Cannes Festival this year is Garret Atlakson’s « Eviction », a 20-minutes documentary, that adresses another hot issue of today’s Cambodia : the battle between private companies and impoverished Cambodians over the valuable land resources. Eviction tells the story of residents of Boeung Kak lake on the north of Phnom Penh. For this work, Atkinson was awarded The Grand Prize at the 2013 Poverty Cure International Short Film Festival in New York.  At the Cannes Festival, the film will be screened in the American Pavillion. Meanwhile, Garret Atlakson already plans to create a full-length documentary about this serious problem.