20-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 neighbors 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.
White Building
White Building
A film by Kavich Neang
Home Media
DVD
Digital
Play Dates
| Theater/Festival | City | State | Opening Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Academy of Music | Brooklyn | NY | 5/19/23 |
| Laemmle Monica Film Center | Los Angeles | CA | 6/9/23 |
| Lumiere Music Hall | Los Angeles | CA | 6/15/23 |
| Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive | Berkeley | CA | 9/24/23 |
About the Director
Kavich Neang was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1987. He has directed five short films since 2011. He first studied under Rithy Panh, and in 2013, he joined Busan’s Asian Film Academy. In 2014, he co-founded Anti-Archive alongside Davy Chou and Steve Chen. He joined Cannes Cinéfondation’s Residency in 2017-18. His 2019 documentary Last Night I Saw You Smiling won the NETPAC Award at IFFR, the Special Jury Prize at Jeonju, Best Image at Janela de Cinema and two awards at Tokyo FilmEx. White Building is his first feature film.
FILMOGRAPHY
White Building (2021) Narrative
Last Night I Saw You Smiling (2019) Documentary
New Land Broken Road (2018) Narrative
Goodbye Phnom Penh (2015) Narrative
Three Wheels (2015) Narrative
Where I Go (2013) Documentary
A Scale Boy (2011) Documentary
Cast and Crew
CREW
Director: Kavich Neang
Screenplay: Kavich Neang, Daniel Mattes
Producers: Davy Chou, Marine Arrighi de Casanova
Cinematography: Douglas Seok
Editing: Félix Rehm
Sound: Vincent Villa, Sophe- akdey Touch
Film Info
Year: 2021
Country: Cambodia, France, China, Qatar
Runtime: 90 min
Color: Color
Language: Cambodian
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.66
Sound: 5.1
Awards and Festivals
Venice Film Festival _ Horizons, Best actor award
Chicago Film Festival
Busan International Film Festival
Pingyao International Film Festival
El Gouna Film Festival
Singapore Int’l Film Festival
BFI London Film Festival
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Tokyo FilmEx
Hong Kong Asian Film Festival
Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
