These are our ten recommended feature films from the Cambodia International Film Festival which is taking place from June 25 – 30, 2024 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Bad Axe by David Siev – USA | 2022 – 102 minutes

A first-generation Cambodian-American filmmaker returns to his rural hometown amid the pandemic to document his multicultural family struggling to keep their restaurant open. As they face white nationalists, an anti-mask protest, and the scars of the killing fields, we see them grow, heal and live their own American Dream. (CambodiaIFF 2024)

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Exhuma by Jang Jae-Hyun – Korea | 2024 – 134 minutes

When a renowned shaman and her protégé are hired by a wealthy, enigmatic family, they begin investigating the cause of a disturbing supernatural illness that affects only the first-born children of each generation. With the help of a knowledgeable mortician and the country’s most revered geomancer, they soon trace the affliction’s origin to a long-hidden family grave located on sacred ground. Sensing an ominous aura surrounding the burial site, the team opts to exhume and relocate the ancestral remains immediately. But as something much darker emerges, they soon discover what befalls those who dare to mess with the wrong grave. (CambodiaIFF 2024)

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Home Court by Erica Tanamachi – USA | 2024 – 95 minutes

“Home Court” is a feature documentary following Ashley Chea, a basketball prodigy whose life intensifies amid recruitment, injury and triumph throughout her high school years. Over three years, the film captures Ashley’s immigrant family’s journey and her own struggles. But with support from around her, she finds her ways and leads her basketball team to victory. (CambodiaIFF 2024)

How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies by Pat Boonnitipat – Thailand | 2024 – 125 minutes

A man quits work to care for dying grandmother, motivated by her fortune. He schemes to win her favor before she passes. (CambodiaIFF 2024)

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Peafowl by Sungbin Byun – Korea | 2022 – 115 minutes

Myung, a transgender woman, estranged from her family, must undergo surgery. Her only hope, winning a dance competition, fails. Then, her father’s death brings a surprising twist: she’ll inherit if she performs Drum Dance at his memorial. With no options, Myung returns home to fulfill his final wish. (CambodiaIFF 2024)

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Rhino Man by John Jurko II, Matt Lindenberg, Daniel Roberts – USA | 2023 – 96 minutes

RHINO MAN is a documentary about the courageous field rangers who risk their lives every day to protect South Africa’s rhinos from being poached to extinction. (CambodiaIFF 2024)

Satu – Year Of The Rabbit by Joshua Trigg – UK | 2024 – 93 minutes

Bo flees the capital of Laos in pursuit of a life in photojournalism. Along the way, she encounters Satu, a Buddhist orphan who might just have the story she’s looking for. The duo traverses the rich tropical landscape by motorcycle in search of answers and even themselves. (CambodiaIFF 2024)

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The Brother (Bong Thom) by Zaradasht Ahmed – Norway | 2023 – 60 minutes

Chana (36) lives in bustling Phnom Penh, running a music studio creating karaoke videos for YouTube. Being the older son of a family of farmers in rural Cambodia, he is bound to take in his younger brother Heng. Little Heng has no future at the farm, having lost both arms by a landmine. Now, amidst a So-Me “wanna-be” culture and with a bossy brother, Heng has to make it. This film tells an intimate tale of two brothers navigating life while bearing the silent echoes of a war that ended decades ago. (CambodiaIFF 2024)

The Harvest by Caylee So – USA | 2023 – 100 minutes

As cultural traditions are slowly becoming a burden of the past and a car accident leaves his family in need of help, estranged son Thai returns home to aid his stubborn and traditional Hmong father. His visit sets off a chain of events that will affect his entire family and the secrets they have been keeping from each other. (CambodiaIFF 2024)

The Witches Of The Orient by Julien Faraut – France | 2021 – 100 minutes

How did a group of humble factory workers become a phenomenal sports success story and the pride of an entire nation? This ferociously innovative, visually stunning documentary tells the tale of the Japanese women’s volleyball team’s thrilling rise, unbelievable 258-game winning streak, and eventual gold medal triumph at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. United by their jobs in a textile factory, the team chased absolute perfection—striking fear in the hearts of their competitors and earning them the racist moniker “Oriental witches.” Less an underdog tale than a saga of overwhelming determination, THE WITCHES OF THE ORIENT conjures—through a mix of fantastic anime sequences and rhythmically edited archival footage—the team’s grip on the imagination of an entire nation seeking renewal and acceptance on the postwar world stage. (CambodiaIFF 2024)

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For more information, please visit: https://cambodiaiff.com/