Showcasing Khmer history on the big screen: The story behind Moonlight Cambodia

Last Saturday, Phnom Penh’s Coconut Park hosted the first-ever appearance of Moonlight Cambodia – Cambodia’s only outdoor cinema screening company. As the sun began to set over Coconut Park, excited young families enjoyed the warm weather and the backdrop of an unbelievable view of the cityscape.

It was at this point I grabbed a beer and caught up with Jem Pumford, founder and CEO of Moonlight Cambodia, to discuss how it all came about in the first place.

To read about open-air cinema in Kep click here.

Who are Moonlight Cambodia?

“After coming to Cambodia in 2004, I fell in love with this country. I was only supposed to come for a few months but ended up staying for quite a bit longer, completely forgetting to visit the likes of Vietnam and Thailand. My first visit to Southeast Asia was actually in 1988 at the age of 20, I first learnt about the plight of the Cambodian people during a visit to the border region but was unable to visit.

In 2012 I had a serious health scare which prompted me to give the direction of my life some consideration, I thought to myself “what really makes me happy in life?”. After some deliberation I knew I wanted to do something that has a positive impact on others, and I love the atmosphere and culture Cambodia is so happy to offer, so I decided to pick up sticks and make the move to here permanently. 

When I first moved, I didn’t want to open a bar because that’s every barang, I wanted to do something different and I remembered when I was in recovery, my mate took me to an outdoors cinema to cheer me up – I thought ‘this is great!’. I did some research and couldn’t find anything on outdoor cinema in Cambodia, so I decided that this is what I’m going to do. It has been the best decision of my life. 

Moonlight Cambodia has since showcased visual content on their 4.88 x 2.74 metre inflatable screen across all four corners of the Kingdom, with screenings in rural communities, school, hotels, beaches, pagodas and even the Angkor Wat!

Speaking on his motivations, Jem placed a heart-felt emphasis on the personal fulfilment he gets when watching his audience receiving his content.  

“I get excited every time we do a screening – whether it’s entertainment or educational, I love watching the audience and their emotional reaction to what’s being played. 

One of my favourite memories was when we did the ‘Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten – Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll’ tour. It starts off so wonderful, bringing back all the memories of all these famous artists from Cambodia’s golden era, including Ros Srey Sothea, Sin Sinnmouth, Pen Ran and Drakkar Band. 

The reaction to Moonlight Cambodia?

You watch the people, especially older ones, they haven’t seen anything like this [the technology] in the provinces, nor have most people in Cambodia. So first of all their amazed by the screen, then they’re seeing their idols from the 50’s and 60’s come back to life in front of them in a state of the are visual and audio experience – the smiles, the happiness – some of them are crying with joy. 

Then of course it gets real dark when the film hits the 70’s, and you can see the emotions change in these people, I get upset just talking about it. When a film hits someone so deep in their emotions, that really adds the third dimension to what I do.

My thanks goes to the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DCAM) and John Pirozzi who produced the film and allowed us to collaborate with them. It’s really such an important time in Cambodia’s history and it is thanks to them that it won’t be forgotten. This is what I really love doing, bringing the large screen to those who might not otherwise be able to see it – it’s a powerful medium – made even better under the stars.

Jem is thankful to the government for demonstrating the resilience it did against covid and is happy that places are beginning to open back so he can get back to work. He is extremely excited for the film industry in Cambodia and what it’s future beholds.

“We’re very excited to be back out doing what we love. Institutions and the wider audiences are also happy that things are moving again in the film industry – Cambodia is now just at the dawn of it’s film era, and that’s thanks to certain people like Davey Chou, Rith Panh, and Sithun Sum, true pioneers of the Cambodian film industry.”

Moonlight Cambodia’s success and sustained exclusivity may be thanks to the technology comprised in their setup – they use top of the range Yamaha and QSC speakers at 1300 watts, Christie/Optima visual display systems projecting up to 6000 lumen and a 4.88 x 2.74 metre Airscreen inflatable screen – that hardware is difficult to match even in the West.

In closing, I asked Jem for some words on what this year had in store for Moonlight Cambodia and the Film industry in general. 

“We’re very excited for this year, the organisations producing educational documentaries for rural communities are up and running again which is exciting for all of us. This means that interest in Moonlight Cambodia is already picking up and I’m anticipating an extremely busy year, by busy I mean 1-2 shows a week. 

For the wider industry, it’s waking up again and everyone in the film industry is ready to go. Japan are integrating with the Cambodian industry to expand capabilities in multiple ways. I’m extremely excited to see the results and make develop new partnerships.” 

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