Just back from Kampot, Cambodia , location of the historic CAMBOFEST, Cambodia Film Festival ( www.cambofest.com ), 3rd edition, where CamboFest staffers re-discovered and revived the once popular vintage Cambodian cinema house, the ROYAL (established in 1955 or so) As seen in previous coverage from that CamboFest event , the Royal had been unused since 1986, and had been completely forgotten by most, including all long time expatriates in the region. However, many older Cambodian Kampot residents remembered the old vintage cinema house very well. In 2009, CamboFest staffers including coordinator Phun Sokunthearith (Mr. Tol) and founder/co-organizer Jason Rosette had stumbled upon the old venue while searching for reputed vintage cinema houses in the area. Among those venues visited were two of the other original cinema halls in Kampot, the Makara ('January') and the Santhapeap ('Friendship'). However, the Royal did not stand out as a cinema house at first: i...
