Film
White Building
Twenty-year-old Samnang and two friends live in the White Building, a landmark tenement in Phnom Penh that welcomed many artists and performers upon their post-Khmer Rouge return. In this fast-changing Cambodian city, the three young men practice dance routines, dreaming of television talent contests while their parents lead a more traditional lifestyle. Soon, the White Building is to be demolished, and the stable environment Samnang has always called home is on shaky ground. Recalling slow-cinema titans like Tsai Ming-liang, this striking debut by Kavich—whose own family was evicted from the White Building in 2017—won the Venice Film Festivals’ Horizon section’s award for Best Actor (Piseth Chhun).
Leadership support for BAM Access Programs provided by the Jerome L. Greene Foundation.
Leadership support for BAM Film provided by the Ford Foundation and The Thompson Family Foundation