This feature film is a personal project that i've been working on for a while. I financed it myself, using every penny I saved over the years.

It started when my cousin in law, who relocated to Cambodia a few years back, invited me to visit. Since my discovery of Khmer culture, I had a strong desire to capture the unique way of life that makes Cambodia such a special place. Behind the hopes and joys of their everyday life, lies a deep and collective poetry triggered by their troubled past. That’s the feeling that Rumdul Beat tries to capture: the little moments that fill our days.

Shot though a naturalist perspective, the film reveals the actions of a family during the course of a day. We follow the highs and lows of the characters and discover the inherent dichotomy of an emerging country: the dialogue between tradition and evolution, the energy of youth in contradiction with the will of experience, the future against the past. The present is a transitional place and we witness how memories are easily forgotten but remain in the hearts of those that we tend to leave behind.

As a boat ride on the Mekong, I wanted to take the viewer through a journey of discovery, rocked by a soundtrack that reflects the inspiring and diverse nature of Khmer music.