Vampire and ghost stories top the bill as Cambodian film festival opens

Vampire and ghost stories top the bill as Cambodian film festival opens
By KER MUNTHIT, AP

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia's struggling film industry -
undergoing a revival after being obliterated by communist rule in the
1970s - opened its second national film festival Monday with vampire
and ghost stories dominating the competition entries.

Nine of the 22 entries were horror movies, but government leaders told
local stars and producers gathered for the film festival preview that
if they want to succeed, they must steer away from superstition and
move toward realism.

Filmmakers should choose themes "more relevant to reality in Cambodia,"
if they want to succeed, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said in the
festival's opening speech.

Cambodia's film industry was destroyed by the communist Khmer Rouge,
whose brutal 1975-79 rule is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7
million people by starvation, execution, overwork and disease.

The Khmer Rouge, trying to create an agrarian utopia, believed that
artistic, educational and intellectual pursuits were corrupt practices.

The film industry has struggled to revive itself since the late 1980s,
when a couple of hundred production companies had sprung up to churn
out scores of amateurish videos.

However, an influx of higher quality foreign movies has reduced the
number of Cambodian production houses to just a handful today, as
broadcasters opt for more professionally produced programs.

Beside the scary movies, the entries included "Decho Domden" - an epic
about a 12th-century Cambodian hero who led his warriors to drive out
invaders from neighboring Thailand.

The five-day festival is the second after one held in 1990, organizers
said. A nine-member judging panel will view all 22 entries before
announcing the winner on Dec. 2.

A preview of the entries was held at Chaktomuk Theater in the capital
Phnom Penh.


11/28/05 04:57 EST


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