#002 ⤑ Surviving Siem Reap, Cambodia
35mm Film Therapy, Over-tourism And Getting My Short Film Out There.
I could go on about the shoddy Siem Reap roadworks. I could rant about the inconsistency regarding lockdown, alcohol bans and vaccine rollouts. I could even moan about the 325+ unexploded grenades found down the road from where I live.
Instead, I’ll share that shooting the Temples of Angkor with my trusty Nikon with no-one else around is a dream. It’s given me and my 4 year-old son adventures and a once in a lifetime opportunity to run around the jungle finding bugs and stumbling over ancient ruins whilst pretending to be intrepid explorers - love it!
Now I appreciate that comes off selfish as tourism is hugely important to Cambodia with a GDP only marginally better than Afghanistan. But with around 2 million visitors a year pre-Covid, tourism had become unsustainable. Certain temples of Angkor have been sinking, pollution rising, inadequate rubbish collection, flooding, etc etc etc.
Without the over-tourism, Cambodians have reclaimed their ancestry and heritage by having access to their own wonder of the world. People can go and enjoy themselves. Cycle, walk, eat and not be drowned out by tourists which is a great thing.
Covid has kicked off a conversation about opportunity in crisis and embracing new models of tourism. We’ll see what that really means. The cynic in me thinks f**k all will happen and any opportunities will end up lining the pockets of certain officials.
The opportunity in crisis for me has been having an awe-inspiring, wonder of the world to myself as a playground / studio. It has allowed me to indulge in making something on a daily basis. Getting out there, shooting portraits, ruins, animals, forests and more. It’s fed a desire to create more and that wild awe-inspiring vibe has been good for the soul, sweet for the fam and great for the work.
In Other News…
My latest film Sodo Express has recently won Best Sound at the Experimental Film Festival and happy to say it’s also been selected at the West Sound Festival.
Congrats to the team on this!!
SODO EXPRESS will also be available to watch for 24 hours online on the 16th July 2021 courtesy of the lovely peeps at the Experimental Film Fest. So head over to their site on the 16th July and check out my film and a bunch of others.
Video Time
A bunch of lovely audience members from the Experimental Film Festival in the US have already watched my film and made a reaction video. This type of response is new to me and the crew and we’re humbled, grateful and appreciate the time people put in.
But to quote my compadre Ryo on this, which is a great insight into the world of film and tv in the. the UK..
“No English person would watch a short (film), sit down, gather their thoughts, set up a camera, record themselves giving feedback, upload the footage, get someone to compile that footage, upload it to Vimeo and notify the film maker about it and then share away..”
Very true!
Lastly..
It didn’t come home.
Italy won the Euros and fair play to them. Congrats to my Italian crew. Your team dominated. Maybe we scored too early. Maybe we showed too much respect. Maybe we didn’t set ourselves up to really nail it on the counter……whatever it is, for the first time since I was a teenager I’m proud of the England team and what they stand for.
That’s it for me this week - if you haven’t subscribed already - please do and check you all next week.
Lovely read , indeed the nature’s bounty and artefacts are getting a chance to breathe and relive .
Thanks for quoting me! : D