Faded Reels

10/19/2022

Dr. LinDa Saphan’s New Book on Cambodian Cinema Launches to International Acclaim

It’s been quite a whirlwind summer and fall for LinDa Saphan, Ph.D.

The Associate Professor of Sociology, anthropologist, and artist traveled to her native Cambodia to launch her latest book, Faded Reels: The Art of Four Cambodian Filmmakers, published in July. During her visit, she also collected archival research, gave talks, and conducted more than a dozen interviews about her work in and on behalf of Cambodian cinema.

Back the States, Dr. Saphan received an award from Mekong, a social justice organization that celebrates Southeast Asians through arts and culture. Calling the award “a tremendous honor,” Dr. Saphan shared the dais with author Viet Thanh Nguyen, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In October, the Ford Foundation and the New York Southeast Asia Network hosted a book launch celebration with film screenings, with more events planned in Chicago and other cities.

The excitement over Dr. Saphan’s book was well-deserved. Faded Reels, published by the Department of Media and Communication (DMC) at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP Cambodia), is the first book to document the film industry in Cambodia, shedding light for a new generation about their filmic past. It is also the first book on Cambodian cinema to be published in English and Khmer—the native language of Cambodia—and has been used as a textbook and a reference manual at RUPP Cambodia.

In addition to her teaching duties, Dr. Saphan is a documentary film director, producer, and researcher, and a recognized expert in Cambodian cultural studies. While working as lead researcher for a documentary film about Cambodia’s rock and roll music industry, she discovered that “there has been virtually nothing written and published that deconstructs, in detail, the cinematic tools, and techniques that early Cambodian directors used to bring their individual visions to life.”

The more she explored Cambodian film, the more fascinated she became in the few filmmakers who managed to survive under the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge.

“I wanted to honor that—to share the love these artists had for their culture that led them to risk losing so much, both personally and professionally,” said Dr. Saphan.

But after applying for a sabbatical that was to begin in early 2020, the widespread lockdown at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly capsized her plan. Instead of conducting fieldwork to bolster her research, she decided to begin writing Faded Reels.

And the publisher’s decision to make the book available in multiple languages was an important victory in inclusiveness.

“When writing about a certain culture, the people of that country or culture should have full access to the material in their native language,” she said. “We made sure the Cambodian reader is included in the conversation about what pertains to them.”

She added that all book-and-film events are being shown in Khmer with English subtitles so English-speaking audiences, too, can share the cinematic journey of Cambodia’s early years.

Dr. Saphan is aware of her responsibility as a role model for the large percentage of Mount students who are either immigrants or first generation. Born in Phnom Penh and raised in Canada, she shares the sensibility of students who sometimes struggle for a voice or a seat at the table. And despite the international flurry of activity surround the book’s launch, she remains humble, aware that she, like her students, has been shaped by the Mount’s focus on the whole person.

“Like my students, the Mount has given me opportunities—the latest of which was the sabbatical that enabled me to write this book. I’m very grateful to the Mount. In a sense, we all share the same mission.”

Faded Reels: The Art of Four Cambodian Filmmakers, by Dr. LinDa Saphan, is available on Amazon.

About the University of Mount Saint Vincent
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