Cambodia

For the first time, a large-scale Indigenous Festival took place in Cambodia’s capital as part of the 15th Cambodian International Film Festival (CIFF). Called “Water, Land, Forest: Indigenous Festival,” the day-long event brought together Indigenous communities, artists, filmmakers and young people to celebrate culture, nature and the voices of Cambodia’s Indigenous peoples. And I was lucky to be part of it.

Filming across borders with cinematographers from Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia, this piece explores how collaboration turns cinema into a shared space where cultures meet, stories deepen, and Southeast Asia is seen together.

Rigid gender norms in Cambodia continue to reinforce a version of masculinity that tends to stifle progress toward gender equality. These outdated norms harm both women and men, fueling gender-based violence, and stigmatizing nonconformity.

As Cambodia closes in on 50 years since the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, generational trauma persists in many households and the country continues to maneuver the legacy of the mass atrocities committed during the 1970s.

Challenging gender norms often begins with difficult conversations at home. This article follows the story of a young man navigating stigma, identity, and family expectations, revealing how deeply rooted ideas of masculinity shape acceptance and belonging. Through honest dialogue between parents and child, it shows how attitudes can shift—opening space for more inclusive understandings of gender, identity, and care.

Chhang Kheang first went to Thailand in 2008. The migrant worker who lives in Kampong Cham province moved to the neighboring country to work as an undocumented construction worker, earning around $5 a day. This was a meager salary, but it was just enough to support her family in Cambodia, including a young son and daughter, she had to leave with the child’s grandmother.

Chan Khamsing’s camera follows Boeung Eak into a stream in Ratanakiri province. The 65-year-old Indigenous woman walks through the flooded waters and starts hacking away at a cluster of bamboo, harvesting the tender shoots.

The Cambodian state has failed to put in place concrete legal protections for Indigenous groups in the country and instead wiped out their mention in laws and regulations around environmental governance and land management.