Movie poster of star Dy Saveth, who was at the Phnom Penh exhibition. [Robert Carmichael, Radio Australia]Fri, 23 Oct 2009
Robert Carmichael, Phnom Penh
Radio Australia
Cambodia is looking back at its brief golden age of cinema, snuffed out all too soon by the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge.
A movie exhibition now running in Phom Penh provokes mixed emotions.
Cambodia's film industry flourished in a 15-year burst of creativity starting around 1960. In that time, some 400 films were made in the small kingdom.
But it ended abruptly in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took over the country.
Showcase
Over the following four years, around two million people died from execution, starvation and overwork - among them some of the most famous actors and actresses of the day.
A nine-day exhibition has opened in Phnom Penh using 11 films to showcase that lost golden age.
One of the films being shown is by former King Norodom Sihanouk, a prolific filmmaker in his own right during that time.
Among the guests of honour is Dy Saveth, who appeared in around 100 films and was a huge '60s star.
She escaped to France shortly before the Khmer Rouge took power, and says the exhibition, called "Golden Reawakening", holds mixed emotions.
She told Radio Australia's Connect Asia: "Sadly some of my colleagues who acted with me during those years died under the Pol Pot regime. I am one actress who is lucky out of hundreds of actors and actresses."
The walls of the exhibition centre - the Chinese House in Phnom Penh - are hung with black and white photographs of Cambodian actors and actresses, directors, classic film scenes, and exotic locations.
There are also gaudy and colourful film posters showing acts of celluloid bravery, tragedy and that old film favourite - love.
The exhibition's curator, Davy Chou, 26, says the purpose is to introduce young Cambodians to a neglected aspect of their cultural history, and to remind the older generation of the happiness of those times.
But there is sadness. Mr Chou says that of the top 10 actors, only two could be found today - the legendary Dy Saveth and Virak Dara, who is also in France.
Mr Chou's grandfather, who disappeared in 1969, was one of the era's leading film producers. The young man was born in France.
Household names of the time, such as Kong Sam Oeun and Vichara Dany, also died under the Khmer Rouge regime.
Despite the country's history, it is worth saying that the exhibition, which is the first to look back at the country's 1960s' film scene, is not laden with gloom.
Enthusiasm
That is in no small part because it is infused with the energy and optimism of the several dozen young organisers, all of whom are in their 20s.
In a brief, emotional speech, Dy Saveth said: "I would not have thought that the younger generation would come up with an idea like this. When I saw that, it surprised me and made me want to cry."
Finding prints of Cambodian films was difficult, because the Khmer Rouge set out to destroy all traces of the country's culture.
It is no surprise that more than 90 percent of the hundreds of films made are lost - probably forever.
A movie exhibition now running in Phom Penh provokes mixed emotions.
Cambodia's film industry flourished in a 15-year burst of creativity starting around 1960. In that time, some 400 films were made in the small kingdom.
But it ended abruptly in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took over the country.
Showcase
Over the following four years, around two million people died from execution, starvation and overwork - among them some of the most famous actors and actresses of the day.
A nine-day exhibition has opened in Phnom Penh using 11 films to showcase that lost golden age.
One of the films being shown is by former King Norodom Sihanouk, a prolific filmmaker in his own right during that time.
Among the guests of honour is Dy Saveth, who appeared in around 100 films and was a huge '60s star.
She escaped to France shortly before the Khmer Rouge took power, and says the exhibition, called "Golden Reawakening", holds mixed emotions.
She told Radio Australia's Connect Asia: "Sadly some of my colleagues who acted with me during those years died under the Pol Pot regime. I am one actress who is lucky out of hundreds of actors and actresses."
The walls of the exhibition centre - the Chinese House in Phnom Penh - are hung with black and white photographs of Cambodian actors and actresses, directors, classic film scenes, and exotic locations.
There are also gaudy and colourful film posters showing acts of celluloid bravery, tragedy and that old film favourite - love.
The exhibition's curator, Davy Chou, 26, says the purpose is to introduce young Cambodians to a neglected aspect of their cultural history, and to remind the older generation of the happiness of those times.
But there is sadness. Mr Chou says that of the top 10 actors, only two could be found today - the legendary Dy Saveth and Virak Dara, who is also in France.
Mr Chou's grandfather, who disappeared in 1969, was one of the era's leading film producers. The young man was born in France.
Household names of the time, such as Kong Sam Oeun and Vichara Dany, also died under the Khmer Rouge regime.
Despite the country's history, it is worth saying that the exhibition, which is the first to look back at the country's 1960s' film scene, is not laden with gloom.
Enthusiasm
That is in no small part because it is infused with the energy and optimism of the several dozen young organisers, all of whom are in their 20s.
In a brief, emotional speech, Dy Saveth said: "I would not have thought that the younger generation would come up with an idea like this. When I saw that, it surprised me and made me want to cry."
Finding prints of Cambodian films was difficult, because the Khmer Rouge set out to destroy all traces of the country's culture.
It is no surprise that more than 90 percent of the hundreds of films made are lost - probably forever.
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