The Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center will screen eight unusual short films Friday night.
Produced over the course of a year in a class given by U.S. filmmaker Jake Wachtel, they were created by 12- to 18-year-old youth living in neighborhoods of Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district known for drug trade and crimes.
Working with the organization Children for Change Cambodia, which assists families in that area, Mr. Wachtel helped students develop anything from music videos to superhero films and short features, all based on their own ideas.
“It’s been really moving,” he said.
For these children, normalcy is sex workers, drug users and sex trafficking, he said.
“So it’s been interesting to see where their interests lie,” Mr. Wachtel said.
The project was an initiative of the U.S.-based organization Filmmakers Without Borders, which aims to provide students in impoverished countries with training in filmmaking and technology.
The screening at Bophana Center will start at 6 p.m. and the films are in Khmer with English subtitles.
