The Search for lost Remnants of Cambodia's Cinema

Cover for the book, Remnants of Cambodian Cinema

I published this blog over on my AliceGuyBlache.com website as it is film related, but I wanted my readers here to know about it too.

Remnants of the Past: A filmography of Early Cambodian Cinema by LinDa Saphan & Nate Hun

The Cambodian film industry began in the late 1960s and grew until 1975, when the Khmer Rouge took control of the country. By 1975, there were 73 production companies and 446 films made, but most of these films have been lost. In Remnants of the Past, Dr. Saphan and Nate Hun catalogue the few films that survive. Unfortunately most of them survive in a fragmented state and are in the hands of private collectors who won't allow them to be digitized. A few went to VHS and some of those can be found online.

I was mesmerized by Dr. Saphan's and Nate Hun's presentation at Lala Books in Lowell, which was sponsored by the Cambodian American Literary Arts Association. As soon as I got home I started reading the book and looking for each movie online, hoping to be able to see even a few fragments. 

You can read the rest of the article here.