The Bophana Center is an audiovisual center located in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

. The center is dedicated to restoring, protecting and enhancing the Cambodian audiovisual heritage. The Bophana Center was co-founded in late 2006 by leu Pannakar and Cambodian-French filmmaker

Rithy Panh Rithy Panh ( km, ប៉ាន់ រិទ្ធី; born April 18, 1964) is a Cambodian documentary film director and screenwriter. The French-schooled director's films focus on the aftermath of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. R ...

. Rithy Panh has been critically acclaimed for his work. Most recently, he received the top prize of the "" competition at the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and S ...

for his documentary The Missing Picture. The Bophana Center is an official member of the International Federation of Television Archives (FIAT) and the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF).

The origins of the Bophana Center

As a survivor of the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...

genocide, Rithy Panh moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1980. After rejecting the memory of his early years in Cambodia and then in the refugee camps in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, he abandoned his

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters tr ...

studies to devote himself to cinema. He graduated from IDHEC in 1988. Between 1975 and 1979, the

destroyed the major part of Cambodian cultural productions. During the 1990s, Rithy Panh and Pannakar Leu, former director of the Cambodian Centre cinema envisioned the creation of a center dedicated to the restoration of the Cambodian audiovisual heritage. The Bophana Center took shape during the early 2000s with the support of the National Audiovisual Institute (INA). It was inaugurated in Phnom Penh on December 4, 2006. Since its launch, the Bophana Center has been fulfilling three goals: archiving, creation and training. It aims to contribute to the duty of remembrance associated with the Khmer Rouge dictatorship by collecting archives (audiovisual and written), organizing cultural events (screenings, exhibitions and conferences) and training Cambodian young people in cinematography. The Bophana Center is named after a young Cambodian woman incarcerated in the S21 detention camp. During the

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...

, Bophana would write secret love letters to her husband. That act of resistance resulted in her being tortured for several months. She was executed in 1977 when she was only 25. The movie '' Bophana: A Cambodian Tragedy'', directed by

in 1996, tells her story.

Architecture

The Bophana Center is located in the "White House", a building from the 1960s, whose style recalls

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

and Vann Mo-Lyvann. Surviving the Khmer regime and the successive phases of

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

of the city, it was restored in 2006 to its original architecture with the help of Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of Cambodia.

The center's activities

Cine Saturday

Each week the Bophana Centre organizes free screenings of classic, Cambodian and foreign independent films. The Bophana Center has also set up a free Movie Club open to Cambodians and aimed at young audiences.

Exhibitions

The Bophana Center regularly exhibits Cambodian and foreign artists whose work aims to represent the various facets of

Conferences

The Bophana Centre organizes conferences about Cambodia's history, architecture and traditions.

Film school

The Bophana Center has a film production that trains young Cambodians. They are supervised by

as well as movie professionals.

Library

The Bophana Center have a free library for all publish user but under the condition of the center.

Cine Saturday

Every Saturday, Bophana Center have free screening for all audiences entry.

Mobile screenings

Since 2008, the Bophana Centre organizes traveling projections in the Cambodian province. Over 23 000 people attended in 2013.

CIFF

Since 2010, the Bophana Center and the Film Commission have been hosting the CIFF
Cambodia International Film Festival
. The CIFF is free and funds films produced in

The projects of the Bophana Center

One dollar project

Since 2014, One Dollar Project collects short films made by filmmakers from emerging countries in order to film the daily life of people living in poverty.

Elephant conservation and indigenous experiences in Cambodia

The center has created three documentaries highlighting best practices in elephant conservation as well as other topics.

Services

The Bophana Center also has: * a production and video editing department * a library * a research center on the

Cambodian_genocide The Cambodian genocide ( km, របបប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍នៅកម្ពុជា) was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Communist Party of Kampuchea genera ...

Gallery

File:Archive Library Space.jpg, Archive Library Space File:Archive Consultation Space 01.jpg, Archive Consultation Space File:Bophana center.jpg, Rooftop of Bophana Center File:Digitization room.jpg, Digitization Room

References

{{Education in Cambodia, state=collapsed Culture in Phnom Penh