Film
Young Love (film)
Young Love is a 2019 Cambodian coming-of-age drama directed by Lomorpich Rithy and set in modern Phnom Penh.[1][2] It was released in Cambodia on November 7, 2019.[3]
Synopsis
Kesor is 16 and caught between tradition and technology. She lives alone with her grandmother and waits eagerly for letters from her estranged mother.[2] At a modern Cambodian high school, a teenage girl sets out to find her first kiss. An unexpected crush puts her friendship with a childhood friend at risk. Amid the new feelings of first love, tensions bring troubling secrets to light.[4]
Production
The film is a romance and youth drama, produced by Loy Te for Kongchak Pictures.[4] Mong Manith and Lomorpich Rithy wrote the screenplay.[4] Jeremiah Overman was the director of photography, and Vincent Villa was the sound designer.[4] Chansreyden Kong plays Kesor. The cast also includes David Sophy Rong as Rith, Socheat Chea as Veha, Danoch Thou as Sopheak and Sreypich Hong as Bella.[2][4] The film's primary language is Central Khmer.[3] Its running time is given as 102 minutes by the Locarno Film Festival and 112 minutes by IMDb.[1][3]
Release and reception
The film had its international premiere at the virtual 2020 edition of the Cambodia Town Film Festival, as a narrative feature.[2] Its European premiere came at the Locarno Film Festival in 2021, with a screening at L'Altra Sala on August 4, 2021.[1] It had its French premiere at La Ferme du Buisson in 2023.[4]
At the Cambodia National Film Festival, the film won Best Directorial Debut, Best Script and Best Actor.[4] Lomorpich Rithy received the best screenplay award at the 6th National Film Festival.[1] The film also won the Movie of the Year Award and a Best Actor award at Legend Movie of the Year.[4]