"His Majesty the King-Father asked me to thank you on His behalf. He read with great interest your report about your activities in reviving the cinema industry in Cambodia."

- From the cabinet of H.M. The King-Father
Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia

CAMBOFEST: Film and Video Festival of Cambodia is the first international independent movie festival in Cambodia, and is one of the first regular international movie events in Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge era.
Unlike many other cinema events in Cambodia which are funded by international government or NGO organizations, CamboFest is a truly independent movie event!

CamboFest is intended to be a primarily entertaining independent platform for showcasing international and local film and video makers in order to help revive a bona fide cinema industry and movie culture in Cambodia.

CamboFest is a private sector, grass roots undertaking. The festival receives no funding from the Cambodian government and continues to welcome in-kind and financial support from a variety of individual and institutional contributors around the world.

Make a tax-deductible contribution to CAMBOFEST through Media Alliance

Lacking a developed cinema culture, local Cambodian CamboFest staff and associates are trained from scratch and often hail from underprivileged (usually non-University) backgrounds. Anyone who is eager to take part can do so; and our Cambodian colleagues are paid an above-average wage as they participate in the production of almost every aspect of the event - from purchasing raw materials to screening movie submissions.

As a grass-roots, private sector social enterprise, we build capacity in Cambodian staff without a mandate to do so...we just want to do it, so we do it!

Another key aim of CamboFest is to promote an awareness of IP (Intellectual Property) practices in the Cambodian media and motion picture sector by securing public performance permissions for every movie we screen from copyright holders.

In a country with one of the world's highest piracy rates and where piracy in exhibition is the norm - where even Phnom Penh-based, foreign government-supported art/communication/media venues screen movies without seeking or securing filmmaker or copyright holders' permissions - CamboFest's IP diligence is the exception.*

One reason we secure exhibition permissions is because it's the right thing to do; another reason is that we receive a great deal of contact from foreign filmmakers who would like to participate in a Cambodian-based movie festival, yet they express concern about misuse of their content.

Therefore: it is CamboFest's position that the only way to operate a legitimate motion picture event, one which can ultimately benefit Cambodia's development, is to set an example by adhering to normal industry IP practices. We seek and receive permission from all participating filmmakers/copyright holders, and we securely archive (or destroy, per request) all submitted films without producing unauthorized duplicates.

(*Read The CamboFest Story to find out how CamboFest's normal and IP-friendly practices invoked the ire of expatriate movie pirates operating in Cambodia during our 2009 edition)

Despite the challenges, and despite very modest means and a significant amount of out-of-pocket input, CamboFest has emerged as one of the most innovative, compelling, and internationally recognized cinema events in the SE Asian region.

To date, over 200 filmmakers from around the world have participated in CamboFest - please consider taking part in our next event as a filmmaker, lecturer, volunteer, supporter, or guest!

/ CamboFest is produced by CAMERADO