Creator
Lucas Sénécaut
Lucas Sénécaut is a French director and producer who co-founded L'Oeil Vif Productions and co-directed Khmerica.
Lucas Sénécaut is a French director and producer who co-founded L'Oeil Vif Productions in Toulouse in 2022.[1] His directorial debut, the documentary Khmerica, made with Thibaut Amri and Antoine Guide, follows Cambodian refugees deported from the United States.[1][2] He has worked in Cambodia for nearly a decade, as of 2026.[3]
Early career
After a master's degree in private law, Sénécaut studied cinema and production in Montpellier.[4][1] He first came to Cambodia after a period in Australia. The country's landscapes and atmosphere led him back to France to study film production before he returned to Cambodia.[3]
In Phnom Penh he spent three years at the Bophana Center, founded by Rithy Panh, where he worked with Panh.[3][4][1] The experience shaped his decision to pursue filmmaking and production, and it left a lasting mark on how he sees exile and shifting identities.[3][1] Back in France, he worked as a production manager at Les Films de l'Œil Sauvage with the producer Quentin Laurent. He contributed to award-winning films there, including Downstream to Kinshasa, an official selection at Cannes in 2020, and Against the Tide, which won a Sundance jury prize in 2023.[4][5]
Khmerica
Sénécaut co-directed and co-produced Khmerica with Thibaut Amri and Antoine Guide. The project took five years to develop.[3] The three filmmakers came to know Cambodia over several collaborations with Rithy Panh.[6] Sénécaut settled in Phnom Penh to make the film.[4]
The 41-minute documentary, in English and Khmer, is a Cambodia, France and Qatar production.[6] It follows Joker, Kookie and Djumbo, three Cambodian refugees who grew up in the United States and were deported to Cambodia after serving prison sentences. The film shows their daily lives as they reunite with new Khmer families, caught between a vanished past and an uncertain future.[2]
Khmerica had its world premiere in 2025 at Visions du Réel, in the International Medium and Short Film Competition, where it received a Special Mention from the jury.[6][7] It had been part of First Cut Lab Doha in 2022.[7] It then screened at festivals in France and abroad, including the medium-length competition of the Champs-Élysées Film Festival in 2025.[1][2]
Producing
In 2021 Sénécaut worked on his first short fiction film, Sound of the Night. In 2022 he co-founded L'Oeil Vif Productions with Jules David and Mouloud Ouyahia.[4][3] In 2023 he completed Khmerica and La Maison Brûle as an associate producer; La Maison Brûle was presented in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes that year.[4][5] He is also a producer of the documentary project The Tongue of Water.[4]
The company works as a collective that supports filmmakers with distinctive styles in France and abroad.[1] As of 2026 it had worked on nearly 15 films, including short fiction and feature documentaries, and was moving into feature fiction.[3] As a producer, Sénécaut has supported films presented at Cannes, IDFA, Clermont-Ferrand, Champs-Élysées, Cinéma du Réel and Malaga. He develops his own projects, as writer or producer, between documentary and fiction.[1]
Views on Cambodian cinema
On Cambodian projects, Sénécaut works with Cambodian directors. He has said his approach is to support their vision rather than reshape their stories for international audiences.[3] He has said Cambodian filmmakers now have more chances than a decade ago to join international labs, festivals and co-productions, and that they need producers who can carry their projects, along with stronger script development and English skills.[3] He has also said historical memory remains important in Cambodian cinema, while filmmakers should be free to explore other genres and contemporary stories.[3]
Works
- Khmerica (Film)
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 L'Oeil Vif Productions, About
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Documentary Weekly, Champs-Élysées Film Festival: 7 of the Best Indie Documentaries (June 11, 2025)
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 Khmer Times, French producer sees growing global role for Cambodian cinema (September 21, 2026)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Marché du Film, The Tongue of Water (May 13, 2023)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Marché du Film, Projects Archive
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Visions du Réel, Khmerica
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 First Cut Lab, First Cut Lab documentaries awarded at Visions du Réel (April 14, 2025)