Goodbye Phnom Penh

Dream Land

Lida, a careerdriven woman in her late 20s in the developing metropolis of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, sells modern and upscale real estate developments to the growing middle and upper class in contemporary Cambodia. Lida may be thriving as a top real estate agent, but in her personal life , her relationship with her photographer boyfriend is deteriorating. Unable to escape the trauma and prison of her interior monologue, she travels to the quiet beach town of Kep, Cambodia, with her close companions. While the growth and modernization of the city promote an urban and cultural erasure, Kep reveals treasures from Cambodia’s heritage. It is there that Lida discovers that the specters from the past haunt in sublime and beautiful ways.

Sunrise in My Mind

A young woman working late at night at a beauty salon gives into her restrained interest in a young man who spends his evenings driving Phnom Penh's streets by motorbike as a delivery man.

Further and Further Away

Before their impending departure for the capital city, two siblings first must bid farewell to the place they called home, each in their own way.

Last Night I Saw You Smiling

Kavich Neang documents the final days of the White Building in Phnom Penh, an architectural landmark he had lived in since birth.

Becoming Human

Thida, the spirit guardian of an old cinema facing demolition, must confront her existence as a ghost and the choice of rebirth. When she meets Hai, a living human with whom she forms a deep bond, their connection forces her to face not only her spiritual destiny but also the realities of a country undergoing profound economic and social change.

New Land Broken Road

Phnom Penh at night. Three young hip-hop dancers drive a single motorbike and stop on a muddy deserted road. Nick leaves the others to look for an iPhone he heard was lost in the area. Piseth and Thy discuss their hopes and doubts, and Piseth shows his best Michael Jackson moves. They meet Leakhena, a young female street vendor whose cart is full of colors.

Turn Left Turn Right

Kanitha, a young, free-spirited Cambodian woman in her 20s, lives in modern-day Phnom Penh, working multiple jobs and choosing to live how she pleases. However, her daydreaming creates tension with her traditional mother, who wants a daughter that will settle down to get married, and Kanitha seems ambivalent to her father's deteriorating health. The family's struggle seems immutable, but Kanitha dreams an idea born from memories of her father. TURN LEFT TURN RIGHT is structured as an album, with tracks and sounds influencing the form. The film weaves Cambodian rock songs together with motifs of family, nature, and boundless imagination.

Doi Boy

Sorn, an ethnic Shan sex worker, tries to build a future in Chiang Mai, Thailand, as a refugee far from home, but he is drawn into a complex relationship with one client, an investigator probing a political activist.

Cambodia 2099

Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On Diamond Island, the country's pinnacle of modernity, two friends tell each other about the dreams they had the night before.

White Building

Samnang, 20, faces the demolition of his lifelong home in Phnom Penh and the pressures from family, friends, and neighbors which arise and intersect in this moment of sudden change.

California Dreaming

Two women of different backgrounds encounter one another at an oceanfront resort. They then discover a hidden bond that allows them to escape from their realities.

Three Wheels

On a lonely night, Tuk Tuk driver Nath meets a woman who reminds him of his past. Returning home, he confesses to his wife that he wants to move. This realization ultimately reveals the unspoken realities of their marriage dating from the Khmer Rouge period.

The Nightseekers

Five young brothers drive the streets of Phnom Penh each night in search of venues to perform their break-dancing routine to earn something to support their family.

A Scale Boy

Kavich Neang’s first film is a short documentary following Sory Chan, a 14-year-old boy who is living in Phnom Penh apart from his family. A student of Cambodian classical music, Sory lives with his mother’s friend after his mother fled a debt she couldn’t afford to pay back. Each evening after class, he carries a scale outside in a popular part of the city and asks people to weigh themselves for a small amount of money. In this urgent film, we witness Sory’s day in class, his nightly routine and a particularly difficult conversation with his mother who he meets on the street.

Fragment

Fragment is an omnibus film celebrating the strength and diversity of South-East Asian independent cinema. Made up of a collage of ten stories, each story distinctively embraces the other's subjectivities through the collective sentiments of vulnerability and fortitude. This film is commissioned by the Asian Film Archive (AFA) for its tenth anniversary celebrations.