Since the Cambodian memory of the period before the war years was largely destroyed, a major effort was undertaken to collect and organize, bit by bit, this precious heritage. Launched in France, it has permitted recovering documents as diverse as the films by the Lumière brothers about Cambodia at the very beginning of the cinema, the water festival on the Mekong in the 50s, Khmer Rouge propaganda films and radio broadcasts ... The organizers have the ambition of collecting this material from international sources. Bophana Center also participated in the protection of as much of the Cambodian heritage as had survived.
All the documents are accessible to the public in the form of a trilingual (French, English Khmer) data base which brings these archives to life so that they can confront different segments of the public and so that they can stimulate reflection and debate.

How to animate and re-enforce the audiovisual sector through education

Cambodia is a developing state where nearly 40% of the population is between 15 and 25 years old, curious and enthusiastic. The purchase of images and the need for self expression in this population are both immense. Unfortunately television production is limited and there is no complete program to train Cambodians in the audiovisual trades.
In order to encourage the emergence of a critical attitude and to aid in the creation of quality Cambodian productions, Audiovisual Resource Center has a project to train Cambodians in the audiovisual trades. This will be accomplished by a professional team of Cambodians and foreigners. It will be accomplished in large part in studios and workshops. The projects realized in this program will continue to enrich the data base of the multi-media library.