Organizers of this year’s Chaktomuk Short Film Festival are encouraging the submission of films addressing human trafficking and migration.
“We personally think these are among the main issues facing Cambodia,” said Sum Sithen, an adviser to Kon Khmer Koun Khmer, the association of young filmmakers that organizes the annual festival.
This year’s event, which will be held in Phnom Penh between November 4 and 6, has the theme “Your Stories Matter” and submissions must be no longer than 30 minutes, the group said at a news conference on Friday.
“The theme is an option, not a mandatory requirement,” Mr. Sithen clarified.
The fifth annual festival will include intensive training sessions for aspiring film professionals in a camp that attracted about 500 people last year.
In 2015, Mr. Sithen said, international filmmakers submitted some 250 shorts, compared to 36 from local directors.
The festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture and USAID’s program to counter human trafficking.
