PHNOM PENH: The Chaktomuk short film festival closed to a packed house at Olympia Mall’s Legend Cinema on October 30. The audience was filled with film enthusiasts, actors, filmmakers and Secretary for the Ministry of Fine Arts, Hab Touch.
The organizers of the 12th Chaktomuk Short Film Festival thanked all their partners and the audience for their support, making the event a platform that inspires generations of filmmakers and directors. The festival aims to boost Cambodian films and acquire greater public support.
This year's festival awarded cash prizes and appreciation certificates in a variety of categories.
The Best Cambodian Short Film went to "Now What?” directed by Sievphin Chong and Jeremianh Overman.
The Second Best Cambodian Short Film went to "The Pen”, directed by Hemkiry Song.
The Audience Award for Cambodian Short Film went to "The Door Knocker", directed by Sok Pilot and Oungty Sana.
The Special Jury Mention for Cambodian Short Film went to "Erased", directed by Meng Chanleap.
The Best International Short Film went to "I Promise You Paradise", directed by Morad Mostafa.
Audience awards for International Short Film went to "Lucienne in a World Without Solitude", directed by Geordy Couturiau.
The Special Jury Mention for International Short Film went to "Please Hold the Line", directed by Tan Ce Ding.
Sum Sithen, Director of the Chaktomuk Short Film Festival and Founder of Sunflower Film Alliance said, "Despite our country's development, Chaktomuk Short Film Festival is organized for all local and foreign filmmakers to build a foundation and showcase new short films from all over the world."
“I can see the filmmakers keep submitting their films to our festival, which means the new generations of Cambodian filmmakers keep rising up to the local stage,” he said. He was also happy with the audience feedback, which he said was mostly positive and confirmed this year’s program as a success.
Hab Touch, Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts commended the efforts of the organizers, who managed to hold the event online during Covid restrictions. He noticed that filmmakers are developing their talents every year and looks forward to the future of Cambodian filmmaking.“We observe that directors are becoming more innovative in their production from year to year, and I would like to applaud all of the award-winning directors who truly have the talent to produce the short film,” he said. “On behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, I am extremely delighted and supportive of the production of this short film since it is a beginning point for young filmmakers to enhance their potential.”
Winner Best Cambodian Short Film, Sievphin Chong, aka Peace Chong, was glowing with pride from the support he received. “I feel lucky, for me, for people who worked with me, and people who supported me all the way,” he said.
Sievphin explained that his short film was taken from his own experiences and included music from an album he is making. While the topic of his film is sensitive, he is glad to get his message out. “Actually I make music so this is the opening to the album that I am making and it’s different this time,” he said. “The story [is] almost based on a true story that almost everybody overlooked. Cause I think it’s a bit sensitive to general people and I’m glad I got to stand up, speak that out.”
Sievphin mentioned how special CSFF is to Cambodia’s growing film industry. “I think it really gives the reward to the hard work that all filmmakers did, doing or planning to do. I think it feels very special that something like this happens here,“ he said. “I think it’s going to grow, as long as everybody loves each other, and all the filmmakers of the future do it. Try and pull out your creativity, your idea, your story, what matters to you. Put it out to the world, I think it’s going to grow big.”
The Chaktomuk Short Film Festival program ended successfully, with audiences participating in watching all the selected Cambodian and International short films.
