PHNOM PENH, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian government said Monday that the country needs strong protection to safeguards its cultural heritage and that it needs both bilateral and multiple cooperation, especially in the Asian region.

Delivering speech at the opening of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) on "Protection and Respecting Cultural Diversity", Him Chhem, Cambodia's Minister of Culture and Fine Arts said Cambodia is a small country, but it is rich in cultural and civilization in the Asian region.

He said, "Cambodia needs strong protection to safeguard her cultural heritage."

It is the third kind of such meeting since the Asian Parliamentary Assembly on Protecting and Respecting Cultural Diversity initiated in 2006.

The first meeting was held in October 2008 in Seoul, South Korea and the second one was held in June 2009 in Tehran, the Islamic republic of Iran.

The meeting is designed to further discuss how to better protect, respect and share the values of cultural heritage in general.

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A CENTURY ago, Cambodia’s rice fields were filled with majestic, elevated wooden houses. Today, few noteworthy examples remain, largely because of the cost of maintaining them and the near-universal desire for air-conditioned Western-style homes.

So when Darryl Collins, an Australian art historian who has lived in the country since 1994, had the opportunity to buy one four years ago, he couldn’t pass it up.

Built in 1915 by a wealthy Chinese-Khmer timber merchant on a remote island in the Mekong River, the house was set on stilts, nine feet off the ground, to protect it from floods and to maximize air circulation. It was built with at least five types of Cambodian hardwood, and the interior woodwork was decorated with ornate carvings of phoenixes, plum blossoms and fruit — symbols of success, abundance and wealth.

“When I walked in, I was amazed,” said Mr. Collins, 63, who had heard about the house from an architect documenting the country’s historic wooden structures. At the time, he was facing the prospect of turning 60 and was looking to make a dramatic change from his life in Phnom Penh.

But the elderly owners had no plans to sell the house — because of its isolated location and the general lack of interest in old homes, they assumed it would be more profitable to dismantle it and sell off the decorative elements. To prevent that, Mr. Collins wrote a contract on the spot, agreeing to buy the house for $6,400, a figure the sellers deemed auspicious for its square eights (eight and nine are considered lucky numbers in Asia) and its amount. Antiques dealers, Mr. Collins said, would have driven “a harder bargain.”

The location of the house — nearly 200 miles from Siem Reap, the town near the Angkor Wat temples where Mr. Collins planned to retire — didn’t deter him. He simply had it moved. The traditional wedge-and-pin construction made it possible for the 1,650-square-foot structure to be pulled apart; walls were sliced into panels by a team of 20 carpenters.

“I was horrified,” he said. “I didn’t believe it could ever be put back together again.”

The pieces — which weighed about 50 tons and included two dozen 30-foot columns and 400 35-foot floorboards — were hand-carried and loaded onto ferries that transported them to a nearby town. Then a truck took them to land Mr. Collins had bought for $60,000, where a new concrete foundation waited. Working with the architect who discovered the house, Mr. Collins embarked on a 10-month reconstruction that was completed in July 2007 and cost about $94,000 (including the relocation and the installation of electricity and running water).

The main interior space, framed by an elaborate decorative archway, functions as a large living and sleeping area, with a simply furnished master bedroom. Mr. Collins added two staircases, one lighted by lamps made from old chicken cages, and a two-story concrete wing to house the kitchen, the bathrooms and a guest room; a second new structure contains the garage, a storage area and another bedroom. Along with the patio under the house, which was tiled, the additions quadrupled the living space, to more than 6,400 square feet.

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Slide of beautiful Khmer homes on stilts

By Deborah Jowitt Tuesday, Jul 6 2010

For centuries, Cambodian court dancers by the hundreds lived as the king's private all-female dance troupe—the little, pretty ones playing the women, the taller, stronger-faced ones the men; a few larger dancers took the roles of giants. After 1930, men assumed the monkey roles crucial to stories drawn from the Ramayana.

With their slow elegance, brocaded costumes, steeple-shaped headdresses, and flexible fingers that made flowers blossom in the air, the royal dancers were obvious targets for the Khmer Rouge's purge of artists and intellectuals. Between 1975 and 1979, the majority of them perished. The few surviving masters had to rebuild the classical forms bit by bit.

Emmanuèle Phuon, who has appeared with Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project and choreographers here and abroad, is half-French and half-Cambodian; she studied Khmer dance as a child. With the help of the Phnom Penh–based Amrita Performing Arts—a nongovernmental organization that focuses on both preserving Cambodia's traditional performing arts and encouraging creativity—she collaborated with three classical dance artists to create Khmeropédies I and II.

The remarkable two-part event is no eclectic hybrid, with arabesques and the like grafted onto Cambodian steps. Utilizing postmodern strategies, Phuon and the dancers enlighten us about the style, while investigating how private emotions and more relaxed contemporary customs might take it in new directions. Erik Satie's Trois Gymnopédies, which figure in the recorded score (along with traditional music and compositions by Ravel, Debussy, and the Cambodian rap group Tiny Toones), exercise the pianist's fingers; this creative venture nudges Khmer antiquity into a respectful workout.

The dancers wear no crowns; T-shirts top their wrapped practice pants. They show us the beautiful poses denoting the apsaras, the celestial dancers of myth who appear in the carvings of Angkor Wat. Standing calmly on one leg, a faint smile curling the ends of their mouths, they raise the other bent leg behind them until the sole of their foot forms a little table. A related position, done kneeling, refers, I believe, to kinnaris, half-human, half-bird divinities. And they have many wonderful, elegant ways of crawling—their hands curving back uncannily, their fingers telling of a tranquil landscape. But those hands can also form fists, and the dancers' grounded stances belie their apparent delicacy.

Although Khmeropédies I, a solo for the tall, exquisite Chumvan Sodhachivy, begins in front of a slide that shows, in extreme close-up, the surface of an ancient, weather-pitted statue, and the accompanying sound suggests rocks tumbling down, the mood is serene and reverent. That is, until she begins to amuse the gods by telling a story. We don't know what she's saying, but she plays five different characters in conversation or conflict with one another (amazing!). There's a sweet girl, maybe a bit of a hypocrite, and an old man with a coarse voice and a bad cough. One person wonders just where another got that bracelet. Sodhachivy mimes being yanked back and forth, sometimes by her long hair. She maintains a dance pose until a force knocks her into rolling on the ground.

Read more here

Lindsay Lohan given 90 day sentence

 

 

Reuters
Friday, July 2, 2010; 6:02 AM

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - The buzz around eco travel has never been stronger but now you can combine sustainability with style, off-set your carbon footprint without sacrificing luxury, and enjoy a wilderness break without having to rough it.

Boutique hotel specialists Mr & Mrs Smith (http://www.mrandmrssmith.com) has come up with 10 green getaways from eco-smart designer dens to hotels with a heart. This list is not endorsed by Reuters:

1. Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, Blue Mountains, Australia

Set in the Blue Mountains, less than three hours' drive from Sydney, the 40-suite Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa prides itself on being Australia's first conservation-based luxury resort, accredited by international group carboNZero. Pastoral fencing has been removed, 175,000 indigenous trees planted and native wildlife re-introduced. With access to over 4,000 acres of pristine wilderness, guests can go riding, mountain biking or wildlife spotting then return to private villas with in-room swimming pools and a world-class spa.

2. Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia

On southern Bali's rugged Bukit Peninsula, Alila Villas Uluwatu is a cool, contemporary clifftop resort which delivers panoramic Indian Ocean views from 61 minimalist white pool villas. Using only locally sourced, recycled and sustainable materials, Singaporean architects WOHA harnessed open-plan lay-outs, flat lava rock roofs and bamboo ceilings to allow sea breezes to circulate naturally. Wood, stone, rattan and water features rule, but stir in personal butlers, a superb spa, fine dining and a hip lounge bar.

3. Masseria Torre Maizza, Puglia, Italy

The 16th-century Masseria Torre Maizza perched on the coast of Italy's shapely heel in Puglia is a 28-room boutique hotel where everything possible is recycled - including water for the golf course - and most of the food served at its restaurant Delle Palme is grown on site or sourced from regional producers according to a 'kilometer zero' policy.

4. Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa, Chiang Rai, Thailand

The 77-room Anantara has magical views of the Mekong River, Myanmar and Laos, and funds an ethical elephant camp on its doorstep. Backed by conservation project the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, it resembles a traditional mahouts' village and is a safe haven for abused wild and domestic elephants as well as those that cannot work. Guests can enjoy elephant safaris and there's even an annual elephant polo match.

5. Hotel de la Paix, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Hotel de la Paix in Siem Reap, home to the famed Angkor Wat temple complex, has 107 rooms, a ground-floor courtyard set around a Boddhi tree, Khmer cuisine and dining swings at in-house restaurant Meric, and a must-visit spa. Community projects support local people and you can visit a sewing training center, a local orphanage that teaches young students traditional dance or make donations toward rice, wells, school uniforms, pushbikes or even piglets.

6. Verana, Jalisco, Mexico

Off the beaten track with access only by boat then mule, Verana is a Yelapa boutique hotel on the shores of the Pacific. With just eight rooms, its thatched-palapa huts overlook the jungle and ocean boasting in-water massage pools, cotton-canopied beds open to the air and mouth-watering fresh Mex cuisine. The hotel eschews carbon-hungry electronic goods (no TVs, sounds systems etc) and uses candles over lights where possible.

7. The Farm at Cape Kidnappers, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Combine a 6,000-acre working sheep and cattle farm with Pacific Ocean views, gourmet food, a golf course and a spa to produce the Farm at Cape Kidnappers on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The hotel has been involved in reintroducing the endangered kiwi bird species, along with other native birds, to the peninsula.

8. Bay of Fires Lodge & Walk, Bay of Fires, Australia

Designed by environmental architect Ken Latona, this 10-room Bay of Fires Lodge harnesses solar-powered lighting, composting toilets, hand-pumped showers and natural 'air-conditioning.'

Cantilevering above a remote beach near the Bay of Fires on Tasmania's wild north-east coast, the lodge is reached after a two-day guided walk through pristine national park land, including a basic beach camp stay en route.

9. Blancaneaux Lodge, Belize

As well as boasting the best Italian restaurant in the jungles of Belize, Blancaneaux Lodge, owned by film director Francis Ford Coppola, offers unprecedented luxury on a wild and remote hillside. The lodge's 20 villas and cabanas are dotted along the Privasson River with waterfall pools for back-to-nature bathing. Powered by its own hydroelectric plant, the lodge sources its food from an organic garden and orchard.

Source:

Granted, the article below is old.

I am just pleased to see its focus is on reviving Khmer cinema -- an area which I am a big fan. With that in mind, I like many other Khmer film makers would love to return to our motherland and offer a helping hand in reviving the film industry. I know our Khmer people are genetically gifted in the creative field as seen on Angkor Wat walls and ancient sculptures and statues our ancestors left behind to remind us of who we are and who we will be and how capable we all are but cinema has always been the field in which we once excelled and were exalted and hopefully we will excel again, but this time we will bring it to higher heights because some Khmers have honed their film making skills in other countries using advanced filming equipment, technics and special effects which they will gladly share with other up and coming Khmer artists.

Since we Khmers have always been good story tellers through music and many other mediums, I'm sure there are endless emotionaly charged stories awaiting to be originated by Khmer screen writers residing across the globe.

I am hoping in the next few years I'll find myself shooting feature films with Khmer film makers in the motherland like Rithy Panh had done many times before. He is an inspiration to us all and had left an impeccable trail for us all to follow; some of us will diverge from this trail and leave one of their own; an act that is encouraged by everyone.

One of my favorite quotes: "do not go where the path may lead but go where there's no path and leave a trail".

Here's the article:

By Geoffrey Cain and Kounila Keo / December 16, 2009

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

• A local, slice-of-life story from Monitor correspondents.

Just before the communist Khmer Rouge marched into the capital in 1975, Tea Lim Koun, the director of the classic Cambodian film “The Snake Man” (1972), escaped bloodshed by fleeing to Canada. Over the next four years, the genocidal regime executed most of Phnom Penh’s remaining directors and actors, wiping out Cambodia’s vibrant filmmaking scene. 

Traumatized, Mr. Koun vowed never to make a film again. But he was overwhelmed when he learned that Davy Chou, the French Cambodian grandson of a famous director who disappeared in late 1969, had returned to Cambodia last summer to start an annual film festival. “The younger filmmakers will give hope to Cambodian society again,” Koun says.

He sent his daughter to represent him and his films at the exhibition called “Golden Reawakening.” 

As the post-Khmer Rouge generation of Cambodians grows up, they’re producing a flurry of films that mimic the vintage style of the 1960s – widely considered the country’s golden era. Much of the revival is owed to educated filmmaker refugees who are repatriating to Cambodia from France and the United States and opening the country’s first film institutes at local universities. 

Mr. Chou, the grandson of Van Chann and a film professor at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, is at the forefront of the movement with his new film, “Twin Diamonds,” released in October. “People thought this would never happen, that Cambodians wouldn’t be able to come together and revive the arts,” he says. “Young people here are doing amazing things.”

Read more:

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2009/1216/Cambodia-Cut-off-by-Khmer-Rouge-film-scene- revives-at-refugees-return

"Tum Nuonh" by Krom Monster, live in Phnom Penh from David Gunn on Vimeo.

Excerpt from the first live performance of Krom Monster, a quintet combining traditional Khmer instruments with electronics and improvisation. The performance was part of the Neak Ta project by arts organisation Incidental, which aims to explore new and experimental forms of creativity in Cambodia. The concert was held at Centre Cultural Francais, in association with Incidental, Cambodian Living Arts and Java Arts. For more information, visit: theincidental.tumblr.com/ theincidental.com/

MARIAM ARTHUR wrote an informative letter to the editor of Phnom Penh Post on the issues of Khmer film making industry. I have always been impressed by many working actors in Hollywood, especially with their ability to completely immerse themselves in the characters they portray without allowing a trace of themselves to emerge onto the screen. I know Khmer actors are honing their craft and one day their craft will put them on par with the acting abilities of living legends working in Hollywood. According to Miriam, it only takes one Khmer actor to break through this barrier, others will follow; this is the Khmer way. I'm optimistic this will happen soon. Khmer film industry will advance at rapid speed. Again, it will only take one Khmer. I hope to one day meet this Khmer individual who will work tirelessly to revive and advance our film industry. We were there once, we can definitely be there again. History often repeats itself.

Below is the article:

THURSDAY, 24 JUNE 2010 15:01 MARIAM ARTHUR

From Phnom Penh Post

Your 7Days edition on June 18 featured several articles on Khmer cinema. These articles contain a lot of good information. Thank you for sending out journalists to produce quality stories (unlike the first seven pages, which were all reprints from The Guardian. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?).

Your first story posited that Cambodia is “an exhausted location” (“Why does Hollywood continue to resist Cambodia’s charms?”).

Excuse me? Until recently, most films were shot on just that – film. The infrastructure in Cambodia did not support the use of film, and those who did (eg Lara Croft – Tomb Raider) racked up expenses building roads and bringing everything from Thailand. Now films are more often shot on a digital format like HD, which Cambodia is better able to accommodate.

Additionally, movies that were made without the government’s permission, such as Holly, had producers who went back to Hollywood with plenty of horror stories, creating a prejudice that is slowly being unravelled by efforts of the Cambodia Film Commission. Don’t underestimate word-of-mouth influence in such a close-knit community as Hollywood.

Next, does anyone really believe there are “good actors” under the age of 30? Maybe they are good for slapstick comedy and campy soap operas – but that isn’t going to cut it on the international level. Any film produced in Cambodia with the current actors – for any amount of money – is destined to fail if the producers attempt to sell it outside of Cambodia.

I turn a deaf ear to the actors who whine about Thai and Vietnamese actresses cast in the most recent international films produced in Cambodia, such as “Same, Same, but Different”. I was here when the director contacted every “acting” agency (usually supplying models and actors for commercials) to hold auditions for the “best” Khmer actors – not one was suitable for the lead.

These very same actors also whine about acting classes from a prominent Hollywood actor costing less than the price of the cell phone that they find the money to buy. They want classes for free. 

The NGO “handout” mentality has saturated every level in Cambodia, but the tipping point has come. You can’t have business investment, economic zones and a stock exchange if you are still that needy. If you want something bad enough, you find a way. This is especially true for Khmers wanting to make it as actors.

I know of several productions getting ready to be made in Cambodia over the next year. I can guarantee that the serious actors who attend these classes will have an edge over everyone else. Does this mean I guarantee a job? Of course not! You must have the right look, be available during the time of shooting, etc. There are other considerations. Even so, every Khmer currently working as an actor should be clamouring to take advantage of this opportunity to raise the level of Cambodian cinema.

The issue of piracy is constantly targeted as a reason for the Khmer film industry failure. Have you forgotten that every other country must deal with piracy, too? Yet somehow, they are able to make movies. Piracy alone is not the problem, even though it is a contributing factor. It has struck at the heart of filmmakers and made them afraid to produce quality films. Of course, without education about the international film markets, they are right to save their money. But the information is available for those who dare to listen.

It would serve current producers well to stop seeing the Cambodian “pirates” as the enemy, and start looking at them as distribution partners. 

When business models include privately run shops as licenced distributors, it becomes a win-win situation for everyone – as long as each side respects the model. Then law enforcement significantly reduces the number of pirates, enabling them to narrow their target and making their crackdown efforts more efficient.

In addition to being an art, film is a business. A lack of understanding about how feature films make money leads to poor production choices, which result in financial failure.

People with TV and documentary experience use their pre-Cambodia connections and experience to acquire grants and funding prior to producing their projects, so they don’t need to make money. They produce content that is definitely better than TV shows and documentaries made in the past. It is a valid part of a step-by-step process, and I have great respect for their efforts. But when we shift the focus to features, these productions are still found lacking.

Society seems to have adopted a “struggling artists” attitude toward filmmaking, as if it should be relegated to the realm of funding through philanthropy. However, filmmaking is a huge economic sector once production begins in earnest. Suppliers to productions include some obvious businesses such as catering, tailors, beauticians, translators and transportation.

Yet other businesses set to make money within the sector include architects to design sets, interior designers to furnish the sets, electricians to make sure lighting and camera wires are not overloaded, still photographers, animal trainers, weapons specialists, plumbers/septic specialists to make sure toilets are available on locations, musicians for original music, accountants.... As a sector, a working film industry can inject millions into the general economy when these secondary businesses thrive and people begin spending the money that they make.

So, what then is the future of cinema in Cambodia? Everything is already in place (as soon as the actors begin training in August). Equipment is not the problem – production companies own all the equipment necessary to make a viable movie – but they need to let the international filmmakers who already live in Cambodia help them learn how to use it correctly. Story ideas are not the problem – there are amazingly creative Khmers with current stories to tell – but they need to let international screenwriters who already live in Cambodia help them learn how to write a marketable script and set the plot/storyline. Piracy is not the problem – money can be made both in Cambodian cinemas and internationally.

In the business, we count up what are called “elements” to gauge what kind of return is possible when making a movie. Like any other business, you have to know who your market is (Khmer cinema, DVDs, festivals, international non-theatrical, etc). The type of production for one market is not the same as for another.

Read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010062440042/National-news/development-will-bring-respect-to-cambodian -film.html