Harper's Dream
Civil war, death and distrust greeted filmmaker Stanley Harper when he first came to Cambodia in 1988. Two decades and a major film later, a vastly different country prepares to move into the future, writes Nathan Green.
As the Cambodia People's Party prepares to secure its hold on power in a general election this weekend, opposition supporters and a great number of outside observers are preparing a lament for the continued absence of multiparty democracy in the country. Nearly a quarter century ago, when New Zealand filmmaker Stanley Harper first came to Cambodia, most would have settled simply for peace, in whatever form it took.
Dr. Scott: Concerns of Change in Cambodia
Citing Transparency International's latest report, which finds Cambodia in the top percentile of most corrupt countries in the world, Dr. Scott elicits his point that Cambodia is a function of money and not a product of progress. "The absence of a sound rule of law is a more important issue here than poverty", states Dr. Scott, who has lived in Cambodia for 15 years. Further elaborating that while the disparity between the rich and poor may be 'ok' for now, history has repeatedly demonstrated that such tension will eventually boil over.
Watching Tevy
As a protégé of local arts entrepreneur Nico Mesterharm, and one-time artist in residence of Phnom Penh's MetaHouse, Sokuntevy ('Tevy') has brought startling authenticity to the Cambodian fine arts community - authenticity which is not an exaggeration of context.