For his debut feature Cambodian director Kavich Neang returns to deeply familiar territory; Phnom Penh’s sprawling White Building apartment complex, which was home to a thriving community of artists — including Neang’s own family — before its demolition in 2017.
Neang previously explored the impact of this destruction in his 2019 documentary Last Night I Saw You Smiling, and now composes a fictional narrative around the same event, centring on an ambitious young dancer faced with the prospect of losing the only home he has ever known.
While the film is contemplative, intimate and visually arresting, its deliberately slow pace lessens its dramatic impact.
In full: https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/white-building-london-review/5164153.article