The film Ononda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle premiered in Cambodian theatres on October 25. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phoeurng Sackona praised the film Ononda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle, saying that it marked another joint film production success by Cambodia and France. It was likely that more foreign film productions would see Cambodia as a great filming location, she added.
The minister attended the premier of the Khmer language version of the film at Legend Premium Olympia and said she was pleased to be seeing the film, after waiting more than three years for it to debut.
Sackona said that attracting foreign filmmakers to Cambodia is one of the current policies of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, and the government. Given the Kingdom’s rich landscapes which are featured in the film, the minister hoped more foreign producers would be interested in shooting here.
The launch was attended by Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith, representatives from the Ministry of Environment, French ambassador Jacques Pellet, US ambassador W Patrick Murphy, Arthur Harari, the director of the film, Japanese cast members and members of the crew.
Ononda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle is based on the true story of a Japanese soldier named Hiro Onoda, who was posted to an island in the Philippines during World War II. He refused to accept that the war had ended, and spent more than 30 years hiding in the jungle and conducting a guerrilla campaign. He finally emerged in 1974, when his wartime commanding officer was flown to the Philippines and personally ordered him to surrender.
The film was directed by Arthur Harari. Filming began in late 2018 in Kampot, Kep and Preah Sihanouk provinces, with a production crew of more than 60 Cambodians and actors and crewmembers from Japan, France, Belgium, Thailand and the Philippines.
French-Khmer filmmaker Chou Davy described the film’s origins, saying filmmaker Nicolas Anthomé first contacted him in 2017, to ask if he wanted to be involved in the production.
He said that it was an ambitious story and if they wanted to film it in Cambodia, he wanted to be part of it.
He realised it would be a unique opportunity to share the experience of such large-scale film production with the local talent he has worked with.
“I can hardly believe that we managed to produce it. We had many obstacles, including filming on Bokor Mountain and other forest conservation sites. One challenge I remember was building a replica of a 1940s Philippine village, just 100m from a national road. We ended up abandoning the set for more than eight months due to rain,” he said.
“I am very proud of our Cambodian team, most of whom were young and inexperienced. They brought a strong spirit to the production, and inspired the entire team, including the Japanese and Europeans. They gained new techniques and a lot of invaluable knowledge, all of which are precious assets for the Cambodian film industry,” he added.
Ononda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle premiered in theatres across Cambodia on October 25. In 2021, the film was selected for the Un Certain Regard competition, the second largest prize of the Cannes Film Festival. The awards focus on small productions, giving young filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their work.
