Double booked

Original movie poster for Nine Circles of Hell

Why can't I be in two places at one time? Answers on a postcard. This coming Saturday afternoon is one of those occasions. The quarter-finals of the Hun Sen Cup will be in full swing at Olympic Stadium, it's football so I'm drawn to it like a moth to a lightbulb, whilst at 4pm that same afternoon, a film will be shown at Bophana that I've wanted to see for a long time. Nine Circles of Hell, a love story set during the Khmer Rouge regime, was filmed in Cambodia in 1987, as I explained in an earlier blog posting here and featured a Czech-Cambodian collaboration. Though I won't be there, you can see it at Bophana Center on St 200 at 4pm this Saturday (20th Feb). It'll be the Khmer version, rather than the Czech version! On the subject of filming, various locations around Phnom Penh have been used in the past week for filming of National Geographic tv's Banged Up Abroad, a series of programmes showing Westerners who end up in foreign prisons. This particular programme is not about Cambodia but is being used as a 'stand-in' location for Thailand.

A Russian movie poster for Nine Circles of Hell

The Building at Bophana

A picture taken of the Cambodian Living Arts performers that live or rehearse in The White Building, lots are still there today but others have been moved on

As no invite to the Promesses party was forthcoming - though the traffic jammed my road from 6.30pm onwards as the ladies in cocktail dresses began to arrive - I went for a shave and shampoo after work and then hopped on a moto to Bophana for The Building photographic exhibition. It was packed solid with more expats that I thought were in the city and a horde of Khmers too. Why do I never get crowds like this when I put something on? Which reminds me, Monday 29th June at Meta House, a film you really do not want to miss. I can't tell you the title just yet but it's been all over the newswires in recent weeks when it had its world premiere in Europe. More on that later. The Building - an urban story of Cambodia exhibition was okay, nothing to shout too loudly about but at least through a combination of photos and information displays boards I found out more than I knew before. So that's a good sign. There's a few film screenings linked to the exhibition, which is on Street 200, and the two short documentaries on 20 June catch the eye as they will depict the lives of the Cambodian Living Arts performers who are residents. A week later on 27 June, Rithy Panh's film Paper Cannot Wrap Embers will be screened. It was filmed at The Building. The exhibition is on until 4 July, get along if you can.

An exhibition information board at Bophana explaining the White Building that was originally apartment blocks

Be quick before it's gone

The Building before the recent eviction of the Dey Krahom residents

This Thursday, 11 June, an exhibition will open at the Bophana Center on Street 200 in Phnom Penh. If you live here or visit regularly, you'll be fully aware that the city is changing rapidly. What you see today will change and will become history tomorrow. The Building - An urban story of Cambodia is a photographic exploration of Phnom Penh’s past, present and future through the juxtaposition of different photographic perspectives – historical, family album, participatory and professional – all of which focus on the Municipal Apartments near the Bassac river front. Get along and see the exhibition before it disappears forever.

Dance family

A special moment, the author with Em Theay after today's performance

This afternoon's fundraising film screening for Em Theay and her family after they lost everything in a house fire in March, was well-attended at the Bophana Center and the audience were given an extra special treat with solo dances from Em Theay herself, now 76 years old, her daughter Kim Ann Thong, whose supple movements belied her 56 years, and her 27 year old granddaughter Nam Narim, who has just returned home after her university studies in Korea. Three generations of a family steeped in traditional Cambodian classical dance. And if that wasn't enough, Em Theay then answered questions from the knowledgeable crowd and delighted us with more dance and song. It could've gone on for hours, you could see she was loving every minute of it. The film everyone had watched was Sally Ingleton's 1993 documentary The Tenth Dancer and having not seen it for a few years, it was even better than I remembered it. On screen Theay is shown passing on her knowledge and her skills to a new generation of dancers as Cambodia recovers from the shadows left by the Khmer Rouge regime. The event was organized by Toni Shapiro-Phim of Khmer Arts and the audience included Fred Frumberg and Sophiline Cheam Shapiro. If you want to donate to Em Theay and her family, contact Toni at toni@khmerarts.org.

Three generations of a classical family; Nam Narim, Kim Ann Thong and Em Theay

Mother & daughter; Kim Ann Thong, also known as Preab and her daughter Nam Narim

Today is Em Theay Day

Em Theay - a zest for life undiminished by time and fate

Em Theay and her daughter look through their family photographs - now lost in the fire that destroyed their home and possessions

Today is dedicated to the iconic Cambodian classical dancer and teacher Em Theay. At 4pm this afternoon a fundraising benefit screening of The Tenth Dancer will take place at the Bophana Center on St 200 in Phnom Penh in honour of Em Theay. In March, Theay and her daughter lost everything in a house fire. As she explained to The Cambodia Daily yesterday. "One of the most important things I've lost in the fire, and that still pains me, are my documents on dance, which cannot be replaced. I spent all my life collecting them and keeping them with great care only to have them destroyed in the fire." The Tenth Dancer is a film made in 1993 about Em Theay and her dedication to reviving the classical artform. I remember being captivated by it when I watched it many years ago. But I think it means even more to me today, having met Em Theay in person and having succumbed to her spirited personality and natural grace and zest for life and dance. The recent fire at her daughter's home that destroyed everything, including her precious memories, was a cruel twist for a family who have already endured more than most. Read more about Em Theay here and here.

The author and Em Theay - a precious moment for me, March 2008

Em Theay - always immaculate, getting ready for an interview on film

Em Theay photographed at a recent book party at Monument Books

Em Theay with author Denise Heywood in a recent photo

Em Theay adjusts the headdress of her pupil Sok Chea in a scene from The Tenth Dancer

Svay Ken has his say

A father's advice to his children by Svay Ken, painted in July 2008

Svay Ken's paintings of a series of Buddha's teachings have a raw, naive quality to them as the artist himself provided a commentary to each of the paintings to which he had added the basic precept in Khmer language, in a documentary produced by Erin Gleeson on behalf of the Bophana Center, where the half-hour film was shown on Saturday afternoon. Svay Ken knew that this work would be some of his last, they were completed just prior to his death in December, so he described in great detail the moral and behaviour behind each painting. It was a fitting tribute to a man who had discovered his artistic streak late in life but was very clear in the message he wanted to convey in his paintings.

"When you are rich and famous, do not look down on your poor relatives and friends"

"Continually improve your knowledge, do not be lazy or ignorant"

The artist Svay Ken provides a running commentary to this series of paintings on the teachings of Buddha