FILM FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

The European Union Film Festival 2013 kicks off in Siem Reap at the Baray Andet theatre in the Siem Reap Cultural Centre from May 20 to May 29.

"Rivers" will be the theme and the common denominator of the movies featured this year, addressing important European issues.

There will be two screenings daily in Siem Reap – a Khmer language edition screening at 4pm, and at 6.30pm there will be a screening in the original language of the movie, with English subtitles.

Opening night features the Spanish movie, Even the Rain, but the night is invitation only. The screening of this movie will be repeated for the general public on May28.

Admission to all screenings is free.

The schedule is: May 20, Even the Rain – Spain; May 21, The Rafters – Czech; May 22, Fighter – Denmark; May 23, D’amour et d’eau Fraiche – France; May 24, Almanya: Welcome to Germany – German; May 25, Dreamtime Revisited, – Ireland; May 26, Venice – Poland; May 27, Dot.Com – Portugal; and May28, Even the Rain (repeat) – Spain.  On closing night, May 29, the Swedish movie Everlasting Moments will be shown. But there will not be a Khmer 4pm screening – only the 6.30 original language screening.

For some reason, a Bulgarian movie, The Mosquito Problem, will not be screened during the festival in Siem Reap, despite being shown during the Phnom Penh screenings.

Despite queries, Mrs Pok Poun, the press and information officer for the EU Delegation, couldn’t get it together to respond to an email query about the missing movie, despite having sent out a press release about the festival in the first place.

Man About can only presume, that as press and information officer, she is just too busy to respond to press queries.

 

CIRCUS GOES WEIRD

Hout Dara, the co-director of  Phare Ponleu Selpak Project in Siem Reap, advises that the project’s circus show now running in town is well worth seeing.

The show is titled Tchamleak, and according to Dara, “Tchamleak, which means ‘weird’ in Khmer, is a poetic show that relates with humor the strange adventures a  family is going through to find happiness.”

Weird it is, according to reporter Thik Kaliyann’s critique of the plot. She writes, “It’s about a somewhat bizarre noisy family, with the father suffering trauma from the war and the entire family about to collapse.  But the sudden arrival of a medium changes their lives. To treat the father, the medium takes the family on a trip on the moon after having tried to appease him by ordering the building of the giant house.”

Say what?  

 

WILD ASIA TOURISM AWARDS

Organisations wishing to enter the Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards need to get a rattle on – closing date for entries is Thursday May 23. Applications can be found on the Wild Asia website.

The awards, launched in 2006, are now in their seventh year, and this year sees an extended selection of categories.

A press release says, “Grounded in the UN World Tourism Organisation’s Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, the awards have helped to shape international standards for environmentally and socially sound tourism. The Wild Asia Awards remain the only Asia wide awards committed to recognising sustainable tourism.”