- IFC Movie Theater
- Original Version with English Subtitles
- Free
- From March 29 to April 1st
The “Sprouts” program: an appetizer of the Cambodia International Film Festival (CIFF) !
The Institut français is a partner of the Cambodia International Film Festival! The 12th edition will be held in Phnom Penh from May 30th to June 04th, 2023 in cinemas and hotels in Phnom Penh! While waiting for the return of the famous Cambodian film festival, the CIFF team offers you a series of films as part of a “pre-festival”: “Sprouts”, from March 29th to April 1st.
Fee: Free. Tickets will be available 1h before the screening of your choosing at the designated venue.
Follow the Festival live on the CIFF Facebook page.
Wednesday, March 29
at 6pm
« The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun» by Djibril Diop Mambety (1999)
45 minutes – OV with English subtitles
Country: Senegal, France
Dakar’s boy newspaper-vendors are a familiar sight. But when Sili, a 12-year-old girl who walks on crutches and begs to support herself and her blind grandmother decides to try her hand at selling newspapers, she finds herself in a harsh, ruthless world. An uplifting, empowering and delightful tale of courage and hope directed by Djibril Diop Mambety, one of the most powerful and poetic African filmmakers. Restored in 2K by Waka Films (Silvia Voser) and La Cinémathèque Afrique.
at 7:15pm
“The Snake Girl Drop in” by Houy Keung (1975)
Screening followed by a Q&A with Davy Chou, French-Cambodian director and producer
90 minutes – French version with English subtitles
Country: Cambodia
A mysterious and wild girl is captured in the jungle. When we realize that she has snakes instead of hair, she is mistaken for a demon. The cruel clan chief wants to subject her to inhuman torture. Hours lies she can count on one of her jailers, in love with her, to escape.
Thursday, March 30
at 7pm
“The Perfect Motion” by Xavier de Lauzanne (2023) >>>PREVIEW SCREENING<<<
Screening followed by a Q&A with director Xavier de Lauzanne and Prince Tesso Sisowath
86 minutes – OV with English subtitles
Country: Cambodia
The odyssey of the Cambodian Royal Ballet and the Khmer classical dance. A millenary art and the symbol of a restored identity. A movie that captures history, emotion, expression and the beauty of hand gestures. A movie about movement and the story behind it. Released in theaters in Cambodia from April 1st, including 3 screenings at the Institut français du Cambodge on April 5th, 8th and 21st.
Friday, March 31st
at 6pm – “A Cross Look at a Common History”
Screenings of two films documenting colonial Indochina via archive footage followed by a discussion with director Rithy Panh.
“The Empire of Mid-South” by Jacques Perrin et Eric Deroo (2008)
86 minutes – OV with English subtitles
Country: France
With never-before-seen archived footage from all over the world, accompanied by texts from Vietnamese, French and American literature, this documentary explores Vietnam’s fascinating yet painful history, from its colonization to the fall of Saigon.
French documaker Jacques Perrin made a poignant, poetic found-footage feature on Vietnam’s long march toward independence.
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“France Is Our Mother Country” by Rithy Panh (2015)
75 minutes – OV with English subtitles
Country: Cambodia, France
A story of a failed encounter between two cultures, two sensitivities, two realms of imagination. An encounter which resulted in a colonization not exempt from brutality while it could have avoided wars, chaos and destruction. Primarily based on extracts of archive film shot mainly in Indochina in the early twentieth century until the fall of Dien Bien Phu, this film is a continuation of a cinematographic reflection about time, memory and looking.
Saturday, April 1st
at 2:30pm
“Buppha Devi, The First Royal Apsara” by Christophe Gargiulo (2023)
Screening followed by a Q&A with the director, Christophe Gargiulo and Prince Tesso Sisowath
52 minutes – OV with English subtitles
Country: Cambodia
Buppha Devi – The First Royal Apsara is a journey through time narrated by Her Royal Highness Princess Buppha Devi. Illustrated by extensive archival footage, this documentary features the princess’s own words about her childhood, her grandmother, her debut as a prima ballerina, her filming with Marcel Camus, the Khmer Rouge drama, her efforts to save the Royal Ballet and her vision of a modern Ballet and its future.
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at 4:15pm
“Blue Flower” by Saadi Constantine (2020)
Screening followed by a Q&A with the director and founder of The Acting Academy
27 minutes – OV with English subtitles
Country: France, Switzerland, Romania
Winter 2017, Ana and Amara, a young couple from Bucharest take a radical decision. In order to finance the treatment of Leo, their 3-year-old son suffering from a brain disease, Ana is going to work as a Cam-girl. In the fascinating video chat studios of Bucharest, Ana will become “Blue Flower”. In this film, the actors play their own role and all the places are authentic.
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at 5pm
“Acting As an Art” panel moderated by KB Saadi of The Acting Academy
Panelists: Chou Davy, Reth Sarita, Chen Chen, Kim Sophea, Ros Mony, Chhun Piseth
If the « art of the acting » is multiple, it could be summed up in one quality: the ability to adapt. Technical ability , intellectual ability, sensitive ability. The CIFF and The Acting Academy have invited important figures from this new generation of Cambodian cinema ( actors/ directors/ casting directors ) to think together on tools and strategies to help fiction cinema grow by relying on a new actor/director relationship.
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at 7pm
“Daro Zucco” inspired by Roberto Zucco by Bernard-Henri Koltès, adapted and directed by The Acting Academy
In Khmer, with French and English surtitles / $5 per seat
One night, the young Daro Zucco escapes from the prison in which he was imprisoned for the murder of his father. He goes to his mother whom he kills in turn. These murders have no apparent motive. Then begins a flight forward that will upset the destiny of many characters who will cross the path of the murderer… Read more >>
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