White Building(HKAFF 2021)

In his 2019 feature documentary debut Last Night I Saw You Smiling, Cambodian director Kavich Neang documented the last days of the iconic White Building, an apartment block that was home to many of Phnom Penh’s artistic community, including Neang’s sculptor father. In his first fictional feature, Neang returns to the soon-to-be-demolished White Building once more in this loosely autobiographical drama. Twenty-yearold Samnang’s home is to be pulled down and his best friend is about to leave Cambodia for good: standing at a crossroads, the young man’s fate mirrors that of his country. Co-produced by Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke, this intimate and deeply personal film sees a filmmaker using art to bid an emotional farewell to both his home and his youth.