White Building

Dir. Kavich Neang, 2021, Cambodia, France, 90min, DCP, Color
Starring Piseth Chhun, Hout Sithorn, Ok Sokha
In Khmer with English subtitles

Cambodian director Kavich Neang’s debut feature follows twenty-year-old aspiring performer Samnang (Piseth Chhun) as he and his friends grapple with the impending demolition of his sprawling Phnom Penh apartment block, a landmark tenement known as the White Building. Samnang observes as his family and close-knit community become divided on the issue, and slowly comes to terms with the reality that his seemingly stable life will be upended. Neang’s affecting coming-of-age drama was Cambodia’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.

Nominee, 2021 Venice Film Festival
Nominee, 2021 BFI London Film Festival
Official Selection, 2022 New Directors New Films, Film at Lincoln Center

“The movie seems lived-in; its virtually tactile details and its trenchantly analytical dialogue feel like intimate aspects of the filmmaker’s audiovisual, emotional, and intellectual experience.” –Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“The film’s loose plotting and secondary character development can leave a few too many hanging threads, but its sense of place is so palpable you can almost smell the smoky city markets, the sweat, the hormones.” –The New York Times

“This is a gentle-going watch, understated – underpowered even – and sometimes a little drowsy. Still, it has real sensitivity and insight…” –The Guardian