PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Neang Kavich, director of the film White Building.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

A conversation with Neang Kavich, director of White Building, presented in the Orizzonti section of the 78th Venice Film Festival. The film revolves around the demolition of a landmark old building in Phnom Penh and how this impacts its inhabitants. In this interview, Kavich talks about how his film represents modern life in Cambodia, including the dreams and ambitions of its younger people. He also talks about the generational divergences that constitute an important part of his movie, his motivations as a filmmaker and more.

White Building: Twenty-year-old Samnang and two of his friends live in the White Building, a landmark tenement in Phnom Penh. In this fast-changing city, the three boys practice their dance routine dreaming of television talent contests while their parents lead a more traditional lifestyle. But the White Building is to be demolished. Samnang observes his father unsuccessfully attempting to bring together his divided neighbours on the government’s compensation offers for residents to move out, and he must face his best friend’s departure from Cambodia. Samnang finds that the stable environment he has always called home is on shaky ground.