Bitter Mekong premiere

Filmmaker Tiara Delgado will bring her latest documentary, Bitter Mekong, to Phnom Penh for its premiere screening at Meta House on Friday 24 October, to coincide with United Nations Day. Delgado is a prolific filmmaker and this is her fourth documentary on Cambodia. The main subject of Bitter Mekong is Rami Sambath, whose father was Cambodia's Ambassador to the UN and who heeded the call of the Khmer Rouge for overseas Khmers to return to Cambodia, and was never seen again. He perished at Tuol Sleng. The film documents Rami's journey as he looks into his father's heritage and legacy whilst discovering his own identity and sense of belonging at the same time.
Delgado used her own money to finance her first documentary called Fragile Hopes from the Killing Fields, which she completed in 2003 and which explored the stories behind four survivors and their families, and was narrated by actress Susan Sarandon. Compassion and Controversy was a film about the issues surrounding the adoption of Cambodian orphans, whilst The Road to Closure - Understanding the Khmer Rouge Tribunal brought into focus the desire for justice some thirty years after the nightmare in Cambodia began. It was in 2002 that she set up Global Vision Video which provides production services to educators, activists and non-profit groups seeking to promote their causes on film and video. Make sure you keep the evening of 24 October free, the screening begins at 7pm and Delgado will be there to host the event.
Link: Global Vision Video

The 2nd Environmental & Conservation Film Festival will be held in Cambodia this month, following on from the success of last year's event. It will be hosted on three successive evenings from 16 September at the French Cultural Centre on Street 184 in Phnom Penh. With screenings starting at 6.30pm, each night will present three screenings of a range of documentaries with prizes for the best films. For me the highlights are as follows; 16th: Cambodiana, a 52-minute look at the Cardamom Mountains by Estelle des Dorides; 17th: 32-minute film called Tackling the Challenge, all about global warming from the British FCO; 18th: Forests of the Future, a 26-minute story of groups working together in five Mekong countries to save forests.