{"id":86926,"date":"2025-09-11T08:30:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T15:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=86926"},"modified":"2025-09-11T08:32:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T15:32:12","slug":"cambodia-town-film-festival-2025-50-years-genocide-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/cambodia-town-film-festival-2025-50-years-genocide-healing","title":{"rendered":"Reflecting on 50 years since the genocide and healing through art at this year\u2019s Cambodia Town Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When the Cambodia Town Film Festival<\/a> began, it offered a stage for filmmaker voices, highlighting a community often underrepresented on screen; this year, it will continue that tradition in Long Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking place Sept. 12-14 at the Long Beach Art Theatre, the 2025 edition features stories of artifact smuggling, cultural traditions and the Cambodian American experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film festival has brought the Cambodian community together, creating a space where audiences can see their stories reflected on screen. For its 11th anniversary, the goal is to take viewers on a journey of remembrance, healing and cultural resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted to focus on the Cambodian genocide, which happened in 1975, so it\u2019s felt like a big year for us to kind of get the community involved,\u201d said Caylee So, co-founder of the Cambodia Town Film Festival. \u201cWe have some really good short films, which we are very, very lucky and very happy that we\u2019re still curating good stories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the screenings, So and other organizers also prepared the Ice House Arts Complex<\/a> in Long Beach for a VR experience of \u201cStay Alive My Son,<\/a>\u201d giving spectators a chance to experience the perspective of a Cambodian father making a life-or-death decision during the genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more of experiencing the short film through VR,\u201d So said. \u201cWhen I was in a virtual reality world with this film, it didn\u2019t feel traumatizing. It felt more like healing than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The virtual experience is just one part of the festival\u2019s lineup, which has focused on innovation since its return in 2024 after a two-year break. For its upcoming run, it will bring the short documentary \u201cThe Healing Circle<\/a>,\u201d which will introduce new audiences to Cambodia\u2019s history through the voices of genocide survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
At the Cambodia Town Film Festival, the Short Corner spotlights emerging voices, showcasing short films that explore culture and identity. Photo from the 2024 event courtesy the Cambodia Town Film Festival.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Filmmaker Thavary Krouch said she worked on the film to highlight stories long shared within the Cambodian community, passed down through generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s personal for me because these are stories I grew up with, whether or not they\u2019re publicly shared, and usually they\u2019re not,\u201d Krouch said. The film, she said, is a way to \u201cencourage the sharing of these stories so that we can help ourselves heal and help each other heal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krouch\u2019s film stems from stories that have stayed with her for years, focusing on personal experiences of survival. For her, presenting them at the festival creates an opportunity for reflection and conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe we need help in facilitating these conversations because it\u2019s not easy to have conversations about \u2018oh, what happened to you?\u2019 during that time,\u201d Krouch said. \u201cYou know, to spark conversations. I think films like this are important for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
At last year\u2019s festival, musician Soup Pha gave a heartfelt performance, closing the festival with music celebrating Cambodian culture. Courtesy the Cambodia Town Film Festival.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Apart from Krouch\u2019s documentary, the festival will present a screening of \u201cMeeting with Pol Pot<\/a>,\u201d followed by a discussion with author and journalist Elizabeth Becker, giving audiences a chance to hear from someone who witnessed a brutal part of Cambodia\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becker, who spent two years reporting on the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian Civil War, will attend the festival in hopes that younger generations understand that these screenings are a good way to move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m honored to do it. It\u2019s their story. So that the Cambodian community can understand and move beyond it is good,\u201d Becker said. \u201cWhat I also like is that it\u2019s followed in the evening by \u2018The Killing Fields<\/a>,\u2019 which remains the great film about the Khmer Rouge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Becker, festival organizers have made an effort to make this year\u2019s event about more than history, focusing on healing while honoring those roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the festival\u2019s key goals is to create a space where the Cambodian community can see their stories represented on screen, and according to So, it\u2019s doing exactly that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe feel very proud being able to give that to the next generation,\u201d So said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cambodia Town Film Festival kicks off Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. Tickets are available <\/i>online<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Returning to Long Beach, the festival will showcase a VR experience, feature films and shorts that highlight Cambodian history, offering audiences a chance to experience the culture in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":86923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32359],"class_list":["post-86926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86926"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86932,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86926\/revisions\/86932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86926"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=86926"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=86926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}