Le Sommeil d'Or

Golden Slumbers

by Davy Chou

France - Cambodia - 2011

Tuesday, June 4th • 6PM
At Bophana Center

Documentary - 96mn

Color

Khmer and French with English subtitles

Cinematography Thomas Favel

SoundVincent Villa

Editing Laurent Leveneur

MusicJérôme Harré

Format HD - 1.85:1 - 5.1

Genre Documentary

First ralease October 9, 2011 (South Korea),
September 19, 2012 (France)

ProductionVycky Films

SynopsisCambodian cinema flourished in the 1960s, drawing huge crowds to theaters around the country, until the industry was destroyed by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. Of the 400 films produced, only 30 remain today. Almost all the actors were killed during the reign of Pol Pot and only a few of the directors were able to flee the country. Most of the old movie theaters of Phnom Penh have become restaurants, karaoke clubs or squats. Golden Slumbers resurrects the myths and legends of this lost cinema.  Through survivors’ stories and the search for remnants of their era in modern Phnom Penh, the film reveals the vital importance movies had for an entire generation, as well as the complex legacy they leave today’s youth to inherit.

AboutDavy Chou’s moving investigation of this lost cinematic heritage is an oral history with firsthand accounts of the emergence and flourishing of Cambodian cinema in the 60’s as described by directors Ly Bun Yim, Ly You Sreang, Yvon Hem, former actress Dy Saveth, (the first Cambodian movie star), and two middle-aged Cambodian cinephiles who wax lyrical at a café about the glory years.
A heroic attempt to celebrate a chapter in film history that has been literally erased, Chou’s film is also an inspiring testament to the resilience of memory in the face of heartbreaking loss.

Filmography of Davy Chou (born in 1983)

2011 - Le sommeil d’or (Golden Slumbers)