Cambodian government to remove film roadblocks

Cambodian government to remove film roadblocks

The Cambodian government promote local and foreign production houses to film in the country to boost the industry. (Photo by Karnjana Karnjanatawe)
The Cambodian government promote local and foreign production houses to film in the country to boost the industry. (Photo by Karnjana Karnjanatawe)

The Cambodian Culture and Fine Arts Ministry is working towards making things easier for local and foreign production houses to film in Cambodia in a bid to boost the industry.

Among steps being taken is to reduce the number of permits required to produce a film in the country.

An inter-ministerial committee held its first meeting at the Culture and Fine Arts Ministry on Tuesday, the Khmer Times reported.

Culture and Fine Arts Minister Phoeung Sakona said that the government set up the committee in mid-May to facilitate film production in the country and attract more foreign filmmakers to shoot in Cambodia.

Sakona said having more films made in Cambodia would not only bring economic gains but also promote the country’s culture and its attractions.

“Producing a film involves many institutions,” she said. “The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts is responsible for boosting the film industry but we need support from all relevant institutions to help attract more film producers to the country.”

Pok Borak, director of the ministry’s Cinema Department, said that the ministry issues licences to local and foreign production houses to flim in Cambodia.

He said that these producers however had to seek permission from other relevant ministries, institutions and local authorities to be able to film at different locations.

Boral said that this increases the time it takes to produce a film and the issue was addressed in Tuesday’s meeting.

“We agreed that after the ministry issues a permit, other authorities would not ask for any other permits,” he said. “But the producers have to liaise and cooperate with the authorities at the locations on safety and security issues.”

On the issue, Koh Kong deputy governor Orn Phearak said that provincial authorities would cooperate with the ministry.

According to a report from the cinema department, each year between 30 to 40 Cambodian movies and more than 1,000 television films are produced in the country.

It said that there were between 40 to 70 requests from foreign production houses to film documentaries, movies, TV shows and commercials between 2014 and last year.

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