But Bruno has crashed to Earth with his latest commercial side venture, Magic Postcards.

It seems he can’t win with these special optical illusion postcards printed in China – hold the postcard one way and there’s a vision of a monk standing against a temple background. But tilt the card and the image changes. The temple background remains the same but instead of a monk, there’s a woman dressed in a slightly racier version of ancient Angkorian garb.

Back in 1992 the music trio Right Said Fred had a hit singing “I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt,” but in the here and now in 2011, Bruno is sighing that he’s too sexy for Siem Reap.

Or at least his magic postcard is. Recently a Khmer-language newspaper called for official scrutiny of the postcards as not being in keeping with “Khmer culture”, and said that the Apsara Authority, who had recently banned some foreigners from the temples for wearing “sexy dress”, would investigate the matter.

But while Bruno says he hasn’t heard from any authorities, including Apsara, and isn’t aware of “being under investigation”, he’s had to withdraw his postcards from sale at retail outlets.

“I cannot sell them at the moment,” he despairs. “Many shop owners have read this article. One shop owner immediately told me they would stop selling the cards, and other owners told me they were worried. So I had to withdraw them all from sale.”

Bruno has consigned the Magic Postcards business to the “too difficult” basket for the moment, but in the meantime he’s keeping busy evolving his weird Angkor-Planet.com website, and creating his extra-large computer-generated temple artworks that are a combination of futuristic kitsch, present-day reality, and ancient Angkorian mysticism.

Previously, Bruno was a Parisian director of documentaries for French companies but he says that in a gradual evolution, he “followed the technological movement”.

This led him to become an artistic computer programmer in ad land. But then his fascination with Cambodia led him to visit the country on and off for almost 10 years before he packed up his laptops and moved permanently to the Kingdom of Wonder four years ago, eventually settling in Siem Reap with his Khmer true love.

In Siem Reap, he’s taken his strange but compelling far-out art into the universe of his mind and into the outer reaches of the world wide web, creating his global Angkor-Planet website in which he shares his personal vision; past, present and future.

In some of his computer-generated paintings, Angkorian temples become Star Wars-like space platforms surrounded by light floating off into the darkness of the outer cosmos, and UFOs infiltrate other temple scenes.

Everything about Bruno and his work suggests that he is a Yoan, a practitioner of Yoism – a techno geek cult that claims to be “the world’s first open source religion”, or the “open source truth process”.
It began in the US in the mid-1990s and its practitioners, or “participants”, call themselves Yoans.

Yoism is loosely based on more famous open source movements such as Wikipedia.

In July 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported: “Yoism – a faith invented by a Massachusetts psychologist – shuns godly wisdom passed down by high priests. Instead, its holy text evolves online, written by the multitude of followers – much the same way volunteer programmers create open-source computer software by each contributing lines of code.”

But even though his art echoes their principles of mixing and matching religious memes and themes, when this is put to him he breaks out in a bout of incredulous bewilderment, either feigned or otherwise.
“Yoism?” he queries, “What is Yoism? I have never heard of it.”

Perhaps it’s just sheer coincidence that on his trippy website one of the really great and grabby interactive features is a paint-your-own-Yoan.

He claims his use of the word Yoan comes from a Khmer word which is derived from Pali and when coupled with the Pali word for yantra means something along the lines of “Buddha forming yantra”.

In the end, though, whatever his geeky cosmological humour reveals or doesn’t reveal, the reality is that his art is eye-catching in its weirdness, and perhaps all that can be said about Bruno is God bless him – whoever or whatever God is in his website at any given moment.

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

Located on the Dreamworld property in Phnom Penh on Sothearos Boulevard, company officials say they will focus on selling Cambodian-made products particularly to tourists when the store opens on May 25.

Daunpenh House General Manager Lorn Yeng said increasing sales of well-made Cambodian goods was a matter of simply making them more available.

“We are creating a centre to collect all types of quality Cambodian products to be seen by national and international guests – and it will make it easier to buy them,” he said.

“On the other hand, it will offer the chance to Cambodian craftsmen to bring their products for display, free of charge.”

Daunpenh House intends to sell and display products such as silk, fabric, paintings, stones sculptures, and jewellery.

“This centre will be the largest place to display and sell Khmer-made products in Cambodia,” he said.

Te Taing Por, co-president of the Small and Medium Enterprises and Factories Working Group, said he welcomed the store’s arrival, adding it will benefit the Kingdom’s handicraft producers to increase their exposure to potential customers.

“The establishment of a place to display and sell Khmer products is indeed,” he said, though he cautioned it required selling at proper prices, and ensure the products were genuine – otherwise it could cause “negative results.”

Pursat province marble handicraft producer Chea Phalla said she looked forward to bring her crafts to the centre to produce.

“If my products are put on display and sell, I will be able to increase my production more and more,” she said.

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

Born in the US, 24-year-old Mam says she hopes her music will reach even more people in the homeland of her parents.

The local band from San Jose, Calif., plays original music as well as a cover of the 1960s hit, “Sva Roam Monkiss.”

Mam plays guitar and sings. Her Cambodian-American cousin, Helena Hong, 31, plays bass. Mam says her songs reach two generations of Cambodians and have prompted discussions between the generations about their similarities.

Mam writes and sings original songs that have proven popular with young Cambodian-Americans in search of a voice.

Mam says she hopes her music will reach more people on this Cambodian tour, but she never expected to find so many fans here already.

“I thought Cambodians didn’t know who we were, but now that we’re in Cambodia, we already have fans here,” Mam said between shows in Siem Reap recently. “They came to the stage and asked us questions. And there were journalists asking us a lot of questions. So I’m very excited, and I feel like a rock star.”

The Nov. 22 Diamond Bridge tragedy led her to write a song dedicated to the victims, called “Diamonds.” The slow ballad, in Khmer and English, compares the victims of the tragedy to diamonds that will shine forever.

Fans and new listeners can hear Laura Mam and The Like Me’s on Saturday night at 6 pm in a free concert at Phnom Penh’s Diamond Island. It will be the last show the band has in Cambodia. At least for now.

Source: VOA Khmer

The play, called Daddy’s Fatherland, deals with an American-born girl called Judy, whose Khmer father is a master of traditional stringed instruments and whose mother is Chinese. This cultural brew produces a love of Cambodian arts that can flourish anywhere in the world.

Performers are from the Nouveau Comedy Theatre, established by Cambodian expat Im Kim Sour. After studying traditional dance and Bassac theatre at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, she obtained a Chinese scholarship to study arts in 1973 and then lived in France during the war. She later married and lived in Tokyo with her Japanese husband.

Im Kim Sour, whose Japanese name is Midori, said she was the first to teach Khmer traditional dance to French and Japanese pupils, and was a former dancer with the Cambodian Embassy in Tokyo.

“I created this group (Nouveau Comedy Theatre) as I saw that theatrical plays, especially Khmer traditional speaking dramas, have almost disappeared. Most students of theatre find it difficult to get a full-time job,” she said.

Putting her money where her mouth is, she funded the group to bring new theatrical experiences to Cambodian audiences, Im Kim Sour said.

Previously, when living in Japan, she had taught Khmer dance to Japanese high school pupils, who staged performances that raised a total of US$50,000 for a school in Cambodia.

She returned to live in Cambodia in 2002, discovering that the ancient Bassac theatre traditions had almost died out in Phnom Penh.

There are nine members of the Nouveau Comedy Theatre company, who are paid a monthly salary for rehearsals and performances.

Star of Daddy’s Fatherland is Im Chan Rotha, 21, who performs as the leading character Judy. She graduated in drama from the Secondary School of Fine Arts but has not been able to use her theatrical skills for three years.

“I love this performance,” she said. “But working in the theatre is much more difficult than acting on TV, because on film you can play the scenes several times before you get it right.

“I have more confidence in performing this premiere for our group because I believe that Cambodian people will get a new feeling and become interested in the theatre,” she added.

Rehearsals have been taking place for the past three months, with at least four hours a day being spent on fleshing out the comedy business.

Daddy’s Fatherland opens on February 18 and plays every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until March 13 at 4:30pm at 2 Royal University of Phnom Penh (near Phnom Penh Airport). Tickets cost $2 for students, $3 for reserved tickets, and $4 for walk-in tickets. For bookings, call 077 363 390. HR

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

The theatre would be the latest development for the satellite city on Koh Pich, which is set to see an ice skating rink and market open in time for this year’s Water Festival as part of a wider $200 million development.

Touch Samnang, project manager and architect of the Diamond Island development project, said the 3,000-seat theatre would be completed by April next year.

“Around 35 to 40 percent of our construction has been done” he said.

Prak Chan Long, general manager of Diamond Island convention and exhibition centre, said yesterday that the planned venue would be used for concerts, plays and film shows.

“Hopefully we will get a lot of clients to come here because we have a good location, and the theatre will be bigger than others,” he said.

Potential competitors welcomed the plan yesterday as a potential boost for the film sector, which some say has hit difficult times.

Keo Thy, manager of Cinema Lux Theatre on Phnom Penh’s Norodom Boulevard, said yesterday: “I am very happy. If we have a lot of theatres in Cambodia, it will push the film sector to improve, and our business will get better.”

According to one producer, the sector is currently struggling to the extent that some businesses are putting the production of films for cinema on hold.

“I’m going to stop film production for the next five months because Cambodia’s film sector and the film market are in a serious downturn,” said Korm Chanthy, managing director of FCI production, yesterday.

FCI production, he said, would continue to make films for television audiences.

The Diamond Theatre Centre is being built on two hectares of land on Koh Pich, which is located on the Tonle Bassac river in Chamkarmon district, Phnom Penh.

The Diamond Island project was originally slated for completion by 2016 at the earliest, when it was granted approval by the government in 2006.

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

Traditional drumming by members of the Cambodia Japan Cooperation Centre entertained guests before the opening ceremony, attended by members of the Japanese Embassy, Japanese Association, Centre of Japanese Language Studies and other non-profit groups.

Suzuki Yasujiro, the vice president of the Japanese Association in Cambodia, said the festival was normally celebrated each August in Japan. Buddhists believe the gates of hell are opened at this time, releasing spirits to visit their living relatives.

City workers return to their home towns to celebrate Bon Odori with their families, enjoying outdoor folk dancing.

“We make this an enjoyable event because many people come back from their work in cities. When we get together, we want to be happy together,” said Suzuki on Sunday.

“We like dancing and Cambodians also like dancing, so we have staged this happy event together in order to build more peace.” The festival was popular with children, he explained, and it’s a time to sample special Japanese delicacies and drinks.

Celebrations at the Cambodia Japan Cooperation Centre featured food stalls giving visitors an authentic taste of Japan.

Por Limeng, a 19-year-old student at the university’s Center of Japanese Language Studies, said that Bon Odori was similar to Cambodia’s Pchum Ben festival which also offered foods to the spirits of ancestors.

“I just learned about the festival recently, but at Pchum Ben we toss balls of rice to the spirits, and the Japanese have dancing instead,” he said.

He was one of about 40 student volunteers who dressed in traditional clothes to join in the Japanese folk dances. They also performed popular Cambodian folk dances and songs at the festival.

“When we dance, we meet more people, especially students from other universities,” said Por Limeng. “I think it’s just an entertaining event that helps Cambodia’s good relationship with the Japanese.”

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

This huge international event, hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and endorsed by UNESCO and organized by FX Entertainment in association with the Cambodia Film Commission, will continue until Oct. 24 in the capital city.

Khim Sarith, secretary of state of Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, said the purpose of holding this festival is to raise up the quality of Cambodian movie industry, to share experience and to approach international movie industry to shoot films in Cambodia.

Throughout the festival, about 120 movies from 28 countries and regions including those from Australia, China, Brazil, France, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines and the United States.

Types of movies include international independent films, award winning-documentaries, classic and modern Khmer films, youth- oriented films and films made in Cambodia, as well as showing some of the best locally produced TV dramas and music videos.

There will also be a strong emphasis on tourism with the opportunity to promote Cambodia as a country with rich culture.

Saray Sakana

AHIT murder mystery set in modern-day Phnom Penh will make its debut at the North Korean film festival, which opens tomorrow.

Vanished features an attractive radio show presenter who becomes terrified that her life is in danger after two of her close friends mysteriously disappear. Dealing with issues of trust and the struggle for independence, the film played to sell-out audiences in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang last year.

The film was chosen to represent Cambodia’s film industry by the Ministry of Culture’s Department of Film.

“This year we chose Vanished because it is an exciting well-made film that showcases Cambodia’s talent brilliantly,” said Chan Sayasin, director of the Department of Film.

Film producer Matthew Robinson said: “It’s a tribute to the local actors and technicians whose talent made Vanished such a success. It’s a great honour for us that North Koreans can see first-hand some aspects of life in Phnom Penh through our movie.”

The film may also be shown in the Luang Prabang Film Festival in Laos, Robinson said, ahead of its TV premiere on channel CTN later this year. In the meantime, it has become the first Cambodian movie to earn a review in Hollywood’s Variety.

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

And, said wheelchair-bound dancer Poan Nadenh, 23, the tour makes him feel proud that disabled performers can join in various art forms.

“I want to show disabled people all over the world that they have the ability to perform on stage. But it’s also a chance to learn many other art forms while I’m there, and help pass them on to other performers in Cambodia.”

He and the other dancers are from a nongovernmental organisation called Epic Arts, which was established in 2006 in Kampot province by British charity Epic Arts.

Roat Leakhena, the programme manager of Epic Arts, said the group aimed to put disabled and non-disabled people together to spark creativity and empower them through the arts.

“Epic Arts seeks to promote the integration of people, of all abilities and disabilities, through utilizing the art as a form of expression and empowerment.”

Under the programme, nine deaf mutes and two paraplegics have become the first disabled dancers in Cambodia.

Their dance work 4D was devised by two disabled dancers and two non-disabled choreographers, and has been performed around Cambodia during the past year. Now they are taking the performance to audiences in Britain.

That collaboration sparked a new performance called Flying Future, devised by the dancers themselves, said art trainer Nut Samneang, 31.

“All the dances are not from us but from each disabled performer. They showed us how they conforted their body, how they moved their body, and how they lifted someone. All their actions sprang from their own emotions.

“We noted their movements, and we included some of them into the performance Flying Future,” she said.

But to train disabled people, especially deaf mutes, has particular difficulties, Nut Samneang explained.

“First of all I have to learn how to communicate with them, especially their hand signs, before I can start the lessons.

“The paraplegics are fine because they can understand us, but we have to make sure mute people understand us and we have to understand them too. We mostly use hand signs or body language to show them dancing styles,” said Nut Samneang.

“The work also requires patience as well as good communication,” she explained. The pace of lessons is kept slow enough that each dancer can fully understand the steps.”

And she also has to worry about their physical strength, making sure the training is not too long or difficult.

They made her especially proud during their youth festival performance at Chaktomuk Theatre, because they all made the right jumps, moves and steps while on stage.

“I heard some people wonder what our performance meant, but it doesn’t stand for one specific story. Its message shows that the disabled can also perform like able-bodied artists,” she said.

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

Catherine Filloux, a French-Algerian American who wrote the popular musical “Where Elephants Weep,” told VOA Khmer recently that Cambodian theatre artists Chhon Sina and Ieng Sithul will also travel to New York for the Theatre and Peace Building in Cambodia Symposium at Fordham University.

The symposium will be held Sept. 20 and Sept. 21. Following that, the artists will take part in a conference held by Theater Without Borders, called Acting Together on the World Stage: A Conference on Theatre and Peace Building in Conflict Zones, from Sept. 23 to Sept. 26.

On Sept. 20, she said, “We are going to be having an open rehearsal of Chhon Sina’s new play…‘Phka Champei,’ about a sex worker and victim of domestic violence who lives in a slum in Phnom Penh.”

The following day, “there will be a panel in which will be discussed issues of theatre and peace building, and we will do an excerpt from Chhon Sina’s play, and we will also have Ieng Sithul perform,” she said.

Filloux has written four plays about Cambodia, in addition to “Where Elephants Weep,” which proved widely popular.

Her plays include “Eyes of the Heart, Photographs from S-21,” about a woman who suffers from psychosomatic blindness after the Khmer Rouge regime; “Silence of God,” about Pol Pot; and “The US Complicity in What Happened in Cambodia.”

The second conference will discuss how current Cambodian artists worked following the Khmer Rouge “and have used art as a way to express human rights and also as a way to heal,” Filloux said.

Other participants come from countries like Peru and Ireland, as well as Native Americans from the US. All will have a chance to discuss parallels in their rebuilding efforts.

Rithisal Kang, a Cambodian Fulbright scholar in the US, will also attend.

“We will discuss with the guidance of peace-building scholars and practitioners a range of questions about the relationship between the arts and conflict,” he told VOA Khmer. “I believe we will learn and gain understanding of the nature of conflict, causes of violence and the meaning of peace.”

Source: VOA Khmer