The Flicks Phnom Penh has closed and everything must go….

As of yesterday (8th August) The Flicks Phnom Penh, Flicks Movie House, or Flicks Cinema as it was colloquially known has closed for good. For those who never had the joy of visiting, the Flicks was the only privately run independent cinema in Phnom Penh. To we who knew, loved and spent lots of time here, the place was iconic.

People would book it out for whole weekends just to watch Ferris Bueller’s Day off, or other such frivolous acts. We know at least one group who would come every Saturday with then taking turns to pick a flick. The game here was to guess when Andie Perry would walk out in anger about how bad the film she didn’t pick was.

Speaking “exclusively” to Khmer Nights about how she might spend future weekends she stated: “We’ll find other ways to entertain ourselves”.

Yes, the place means a lot to a lot of people.

What was The Flicks Phnom Penh Story?

To quote their fabulous website;

“The Flicks Community Movie House was the only independent, fully licensed art house cinema in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which offered big screen movies in a comfortable air conditioned movie room to the expatriate and tourist community from June 2009 to August 2021. The Flicks closed forever on August 8.”

And that pretty much sums it up, for over 12 years this was the only independent cinema in the country, with it surviving mostly through a fiercely loyal clientele giving donations, as well as serving drinks from their very kitsch little bar.  The location might have been a bit out of the way, but the decor, vibe and enthusiasm of the Dutch owner Ramon Stoppelenburg made it just a super special space for film lovers, not to mention something genuinely different to do in Phnom Penh.

Why is the Flicks Phnom Penh closing?

Covid has severely screwed with many an industry, but cinemas more than most. Not much of a problem when you are part of a huge chain, but if you have the word “independent” in your title then things get even harder.

Speaking exclusively to Khmer Nights, owner Ramon stated: “There are not many businesses that make it 12 years in Cambodia and stay healthy until the end. My time is up, I am moving on to other things in life. Perhaps I’ll keep on making popcorn.” He is apparently now moving to Georgia, the country rather than the redneck state you understand.

To read about tours to Georgia click here.

And all of this in the same week we discovered you could get Mcdonald’s delivered to Cambodia. It all just feels rather too much of a cruel coincidence.

The Flicks Phnom Penh – everything must go

Sadly as when anywhere closes it does give the opportunity for y’all vultures out there to get your hands on some cheap stuff. The Flicks will be having a closing down sale, which according to the owner will be announced on their FB page this week.

You can check their FB page here.

As always Khmer Nights will keep our finger on the pulse with how things progress.

What is the future for independent cinema and movie houses in Phnom Penh?

In the short term really not very good and as owner Ramon put it to Khmer Nights “Phnom Penh is crying”. We would not agree more.

In fact, cinemas in general have pretty much been closed since the February 20th incident and beyond. For now at least it is Netflix, or bust.

To read about the Villa Lanka closing click here .

As for the future long term? Khmer Nights have it under good authority that the projector has gone to a good home and with enough film lovers in the capital there is likely to be a Phoenix Flicks when things do finally start getting back to normal.

Quite when we can expect normal though is anyone’s guess….

	Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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