Cambodia's got talent

Cambodians snatched first and third places in the short-film competition at this year’s Tropfest Southeast Asia

By Logan Connor
Last night, Cambodian filmmaker Polen Ly won top prize at Tropfest Southeast Asia with Colourful Knots, a film in which a cancer-stricken girl from a rich family finds an unusual friendship with two poor boys.

The film maker walked away with $12,000 courtesy of Yayasan Sime Darby, as well as an industry immersion trip to Los Angeles sponsored by the Motion Picture Association. Last year, his short film Duetto earned him second place in the competition.
Ly said the film was inspired by a scene he witnessed in Phnom Penh of two poor children sharing food. He wanted the film to convey the compassion and friendship he saw.
Colourful Knots was filmed and edited with a budget of $1,800 gathered from crowd-source donations on indiegogo.com. The film’s page on the website says that the majority of the money went to support the families of the children who acted in the film.
Filipino director Jake Soriano claimed second prize for The Steel Child, and Cambodian director Somchanrith Chap won third place for his Western-inspired short, A Fistful of Pebbles.
A panel of five judges—including Australian actor Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom, 300: Rise of an Empire, Strike Back) and acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle (In the Mood for Love, 2046)—picked the winners from a line-up of 16 films.
“Tropfest is all about celebrating creativity among talented filmmakers,” said Joe Sidek, Tropfest Southeast Asia’s managing director, “and I am constantly inspired by the incredible films we receive.”