SEADocs: My River, My Fish, My Life by Chum Sophea

SEADocs 2010 -- Young Documentary Filmmakers Tackle the Issue of Biodiversity

The Goethe-Institut in collaboration with the GTZ and national broadcasters including Thai PBS, the ABS-CBN Foundation, the Knowledge Channel, Studio 23, and Metro TV & Eagle Awards, invited students aged 18 to 25 to submit a short documentary film on the topic of biodiversity in the context of the Southeast Asian Student Documentary Award involving the participation of Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia.

A national jury of film and science experts in each country made a selection of three films per country and the students were invited to attend an intensive workshop on the island of Koh Chang in Thailand from November 25-30, 2010 under the tutelage of international documentary filmmaker Herbert Ostwald.

An international Jury jury consisting of Jacques Cluzaud (co-director of "Oceans" and "Winged Migration"), Douglas Varchol (a documentary filmmaker with an extensive repertoire) and Douglas Hykle (Coordinator and Senior Advisor for the Convention of Migratory Species of the United Nations Environment Programme) made a selection from the twelve shortlisted films.

Cambodian Mr. Chum Sophea, a 23 year-old student of the Royal University of Phnom Phen Student received the Third Prize for his short documentary film "My River, My Fish, My Life" about a Cambodian fishermen living along the Mekong River in Phnom Penh. The decreasing number of fish in the river threatens his livelihood. The fish catch is very low compared to previous years and that makes sustaining his family solely as fishermen extremely challenging. A reason behind this is that changes in the Mekong water level have affected the number of fish and their migration patters in the river. He received a cash prize of $500 USD.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• My River My Fish My Live
• Chum Sophea
• FIlm Festival
• Science Film Festival
• SouthEastAsia
• SEADocs
• Student Documentary Awards
• Thailand
• Cambodia
• Cambodian Filmmaker
• Documentary Film
• Short
• Khmer
• DMC