PHNOM PENH: This year, Chaktomuk Short Film Festival (CSFF) has chosen six local and eight international titles for the finale out of hundreds of entries, according to the festival’s programmers.
1. Now What? - Directed by Sievphin CHONG and Jeremiah OVERMAN
2. The Pen - Directed by Hemkiry SONG
3. A Day - Directed by Mota PHOM
4. Just Watch - Directed by Chanhak PHAT
5. Erased - Directed by Chee LY
6. The Door Knocker - Directed by Pilot SOK and Sana OUNGTY
Eam Tithseiha, CSFF’s Local Programmer, said, "Among the films we have selected for the competition, each story is so creative and unique with a great production value." He added that he was pleasantly surprised to have seen local short films from numerous filmmakers submitted to CSFF’s 12th edition.
It is also important to note that the six titles for this year's competition were chosen based on the following criteria, provided by the local programmer:
• Story control from start to end by knowing what they are doing and what they want;
• Technical and quality control before and after filming;
• Casting actors that matches the plot and directing the selected cast;
• Will to express oneself as an artist through their work.
One of the six finalists, Phat Chanhak, filmmaker of “Just Watch”, said, “I'm really excited after I received the news from CSFF that my film was selected as a finalist. This really exceeded my expectations.” He added, “I hope the audience will be happy to gain new experiences from the festival, like other filmmakers and to have my film screened in movie theaters very soon."
The festival received 148 entries for the International competition and narrowed it down to eight titles from four continents, which will compete in two sections.
Section one:
1. Ever Since I Have Been Flying - From Switzerland and directed by Aylin Gokmen
2. Lucienne in a World Without Solitude - From France and directed by Geordy Couturiau
3. Please Hold The Line - From Malaysia and directed by Tan Ce Ding
4. Flowers From Another Garden - From Colombia and Switzerland and directed by Jorge Cadena
Section two:
5. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - From Singapore and directed by Alvin Lee
6. I Promise You Paradise- From Egypt and directed by Morad Mostafa
7. Now Here - From China and director by Zhao Hao
8. Manta Ray - From France and directed by Anton Bialas
CSFF’s International Programmer, Sansitny RUTH, said, “Every year, my habit to select the winner always follows the three principles. First, the film must fulfill specific quality requirements, which implies that any film chosen must have exceptional creative value. Second, the film should be compatible with Cambodia's sociopolitical context. This signifies that the film's plot reflects current and significant issues in Cambodian society. The last important point is that the story should reflect globally, discussing human situations and liveliness.”
He strongly believes that the best movie should have these three ingredients together. He added, “What differs from year to year is the quality of the story from foreign directors, as well as the number of criteria that respond to these films. The films that made it to the finale are all featured two themes: ‘family’ and ‘identity’”.
The festival will be officially held from October 27th to 30th, including opening and closing days. If you wish to watch new local and international short films, you are encouraged to come and check these out to support young filmmakers. All the screenings and events will be conducted in person at Legend Cinema - Olympia Mall, K-Mall, SenSok Mega Mall, Major Cineplex - Sorya and Cine Hub.
The festival is also looking for more financial support in order to prepare and produce promotional events and materials to reach out to filmmakers, students, and the wider public, as well as to support the festival committee to deserve our audience and stakeholders’ trust.
