The Twin Diamonds
Most young people dream of being in a movie and for 10 students from Friends-International, their dream has come true.
‘The Twin Diamonds’, is a 45-minute film made by 60 students from six different schools in Phnom Penh: Mith Samlanh, DMC, Lycée Français René Descartes, Reyum Art School, RUFA and Limkokwing University. The film shows that youth from Cambodia, whatever their backgrounds, are able to make an original film, all together. The film is the product of eight months of hard work by all these students and young French filmmaker, Davy Chou, who was based at Friends-International and received on-going technical and financial support from our communications team.
Friends-International is especially proud that all the young actors in the film are Mith Samlanh students. Davy said he made this choice “because teaching in Mith Samlanh revealed just how creative the street youth were. They love to sing and perform and many of them have dreamed of becoming actors, but thought that there was nearly no chance of such dreams becoming true – until now! The collective film would be a great opportunity to give them this chance.”
Twin Diamonds tells the story of two twin sisters, separated at birth but now reunited and struggling to investigate their mysterious past. The film, written step by step by 14 different student groups, is full of surprises and narrative twists. You can watch a trailer of the film here and read about the making of the film in Davy’s Twin Diamonds blog.
The premiere screening was held at the historical Lux Theatre in Phnom Penh. The cinema was completely packed and the balcony area had to be opened to fit everyone in! It was fantastic to see so many people in attendance to support this talented group of young people.
Sebastien Marot, Executive Director of Friends-International hopes that this is the beginning of many more projects like Twin Diamonds. “This very exciting project not only participates in the rebirth of Cambodian cinema, but also shows that art and film can bridge social and cultural differences. This movie shows how together, all these young people have found one voice and have enriched each other with new an different ideas. Because of the way it is designed, the movie carries a strong message of cooperation, friendship and understanding for all young people living in Cambodia”.
Friends-International was able to support the project thanks to funds from the Skoll Foundation.
