Whale Rider

Finally there is a movie theatre of sorts opened up here. Its actually more like a movie lounge. Kiwi couple Martin and Janette have opened 'The Flicks' in a shophouse on St 95. The theatre is just a room, in a shophouse, but with two new airconditioning units- very important as the room has, by necessity, no windows- a white wall- the screen- and a kick ass surround sound system it is a welcome addition to hot sweaty hours with nothing to do. At the moment the patrons lounge on long floor cushions, on a three tiered wooden floor, which is fine by me, but Martin said they have couches planned as well. The Kiwis in Kampuchea went enmass the other night for a screening of 'Whale Rider' and M and about 12 of his friends went after school a couple of days later to catch 'Chicken Run' -they may be relatively mature teenagers but they still enjoy animation on the big screen! It is a welcome addition to Phnom Penh.

If you haven't seen Whale Rider I urge you to seek it out.



It was Keisha Castle Hughes first film for which she was nominated for an Oscar and I think she gives a fantastic performance as Paikea, the Whale Rider.