Filmmaking in Cambodia has always been a low-key affair – but it does come with the royal seal of approval. That’s because the country’s late King Norodom Sihanouk, who died in 2012 at the age of 89, was a prolific filmmaker who made around 50 films from the 1940s to the 2000s. Sihanouk’s films, which were shot in 16mm, 35mm, and later on video, covered a range of topics including Cambodian politics, but his main focus was always clear – to promote and preserve traditional Khmer (Cambodian) culture. Sihanouk’s SHADOW OVER ANGKOR (1968, 90min) is considered one of Sihanouk’s best films. This investigation about the CIA infiltration of Cambodia before the Lon Nol Coup is based on real events – a plot fomented by General “Dap” Chhuon Mchulpich, being very dissatisfied with the “neutralist” and anti-imperialist policy of Sihanouk, Chief of State of the Kingdom of Cambodia in the 1960s.

English subtitles.
Free Entrance.