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15th CSFF Progress Report from March to September 2026

Chaktomuk Short Film Festival (CSFF), founded in 2012 and governed by the Sunflower Film Organization, is hosting its 15th edition from October 30 to November 2, 2026. This year, it will feature 99 selected short films from 33 countries out of 380 submissions, celebrating emerging talent in Cambodian cinema, following its completed, various outreach and engagement campaigns.

I. Festival Overview

Founded since 2012 and governed by Sunflower Film Organization (SFO) since 2019, Chaktomuk Short Film Festival (CSFF) is celebrating its 155h edition this year, launched with a call for submission from mid-January to late July and to culminate for its main events in October 30th to November 02nd, 2026.

Each edition is divided into two main periods: Filmmaker Campaigns (March to July) and Audience/Outreach Campaigns (OC) (September to October). As mandated by SFO, Sunflower Film Alliance (SFA) has always the organizing backbone of this festival, empowered with leadership and event management skills.

This year, SFA led five successful Chaktomuk Film Insights (CFI) from last March to June and 09 satisfactory outreach campaigns as of late September. Out of 380 entries, CSFF 2026 will highlight 99 short films selected from 33 countries, including Cambodia itself. The awards for both local and international films will be announced in our closing night of early November.

II. Festival Activity Description

Our key activities implemented so far within CSFF 2026 include the following:

  • Call for Submission
  • Intern Recruitment and Orientation
  • CFI 1.0 to 5.0 (all physical), with the third one in collaboration with Camera Hut
  • Volunteer Recruitment and Orientation
  • Outreach campaigns 1.0 to 9.0 (all physical).
  1. Call for Submission

CSFF 2026 call for submission was launched online on January 15th, announcing the following seven awards: 

🏆 Best Cambodian Short Film: a cash prize and a trophy

🏆 Second Place Cambodian Short Film: a cash prize and a trophy

🏆 Best International Short Film: a US$300 cash prize and a trophy 

🏆 Best Cambodian Student Short Film: a trophy and a certificate of appreciation  

🔖 Audience Choice for Local Short Film: a certificate of appreciation  

🔖 Audience Choice for International Short Film: a certificate of appreciation

🔖 Special Jury Mention for Local Short Film: a certificate of appreciation

🔖 Special Jury Mention for International Short Film: a certificate of appreciation.

Like last year, Camera Hut will award all the local winners with their lighting equipment, supported by Aputure and AMARAN. However, this year, Canon, CEMTES Ltd, and Mekong Link will award the Cambodian Student Best Short Film with their latest camera while Amanjaya will prize the local winner with its exclusive high-end stay experience.

“Building a strong film industry starts with building its people — especially the young and emerging talent we invest in today. Cambodia’s film industry has grown steadily over the decades, but its future belongs to those whose voices have yet to be heard. To discover and nurture that talent, we need a reliable and dedicated platform — and CSFF has proven itself to be exactly that for over a decade. It remains the most vital stage for finding new filmmakers and giving them the space to grow, to experiment, and to shine. We have seen countless stories emerge from this festival that would never have reached an audience otherwise. That is the true power of CSFF — not just as a competition, but as a launchpad for the next generation of Cambodian cinema. Because at the heart of every great feature film is a short film — and CSFF is where that journey begins”, stated Mr. OUM Vantharith, currently serving as CSFF’s Advisory Board Member, in charge of Strategic Direction.

2. Intern Recruitment and Orientation

To repeat the success experience in 2025 and relieve the organizing burdens from SFA members, 06 interns were recruited in late March in various departments like Event Management, Communication, and Production. They have been tasked to focus their support on CSFF until the end of the 15th CSFF to complete their internship, while complementing their academic requirements in real-life experiences.

3. CFI 1.0 to 5.0

Since the end of January, the 15th Chaktomuk Film Festival (CSFF 2026) has been accepting submissions for short films until June 30 at 23:59 (Cambodia time). To help candidates and the audience better understand the submission processes, CSFF has organized four Chaktomuk Film Insights (CFIs) from March to May. The committee will organize the last CFI this year to provide inspiration and ideas to our students and young filmmakers, and will extend its call until July 20th, the final deadline for submissions, as requested by CSFF candidates.

CFIs have been organized by the “Sunflower Film Alliance” four times under different themes, which have been successfully completed with the total participation of over 300 young film lovers and participants!

  • The first campaign (CFI 1.0) featured one speaker, which took place at the PSE Film School in late March. Mr. Non Vandet – Director of “Old Building”, a short film finalist at 2025 CSFF. Vandet shared his experience making the film with approximately 50 PSE students, having himself graduated from the film school.
  • The second campaign (CFI 2.0) featured three speakers, which took place at Build Bright University (Sen Sok Campus) in late April:
  • Mr. MONY Kann Darung – Director of “February Wind” and winner of 2018 CSFF
  • Mr. CHONG Sievphin – Director of the music video for “What Now?” and winner of 2023 CSFF
  • Mr. CHHEAN Pisen – Director of “Black Light” and winner of 2024 CSFF.

They shared their personal experiences and shared important knowledge related to editing, storytelling, directing and other practical knowledge related to short film production, so that the audience could deeply understand in a fun and informative atmosphere.

  • The third campaign (CFI 3.0) featured two experienced trainers to demonstrate the use of Aputure and Amaran lighting gears in collaboration with Camera Hut:
  • Mr. Richard CHEN, a professional fashion photographer and commercial director of photography from Singapore with over 15 years of experience in the Asia Pacific region
  • Mr. HIM Thideth, nicknamed “Pu Deth”, a cinematographer, collaborating with various directors on both local and international projects. 

This full-day workshop, based on a single curriculum, was held at 5 different universities and film schools from May 4 to 9, including:

1. Norton University (NU)

2. Build Bright University – Phnom Penh – Sen Sok Campus (BBU-PP)

3. Department of Media and Communications (DMC)

4. PSE-Film School

5. Limkongwing University of Creative Technology – Cambodia (LUC).

Mr. Richard CHEN, the lighting instructor for the 3rd CFI, expressed his interest: “Over three years, my lighting workshops with Aputure, amaran Asia, Camera Hut, and CSFF expanded to five Cambodian institutions, training nearly 180 participants this year. Globally experienced, I am deeply inspired by these students’ resilience and resourcefulness. Continued investment in their talent is crucial to shaping Cambodia’s future creative industry.” 

Mr. Richard CHEN demonstrates lighting skills using the Sidus Link app by Aputure during CFI 3.3 at DMC

  • The 4th campaign (CFI 4.0) spotlighted 1 speaker, which took place under Cambodian Living Arts’ Canopy in late May: Ms. Kong Sreynet (aka Nancy) – Art Director, with over 10 years of experience with commercial video projects, short films and feature films. Following our festival presentation, our participants attentively learned from Ms. KONG Sreynet, aka Nancy, about such topics on “Great Sets, Great Shorts”, as follows:
  • Reasons behind her career startup
  • Different roles in Art Department
  • Analysis of the sets she designed/directed for two short films, one of which was directed by our 2018 winner, Darung
  • Conversation on the professional wellbeing of “Art Directors” in our Cambodian film industry.

Besides the Q&A between our Festival Director and Ms. Nancy, our participants got to ask her about her actual experience in set designs for short films, clearing their doubts and fueling their confidence in making and submitting their works to our festival this year.

Ms. Leang Mengly, an intern in charge of the CFI Event Management, highlighted 3 key benefits of participating in CSFF this year: “1. I am entering a new field of work, even though I work full-time in a field other than film. 2. Despite the short internship, I feel that I have developed communication and teamwork skills with my fellow interns, even though they are younger than me. 3. Every campaign organized by the festival follows a clear schedule and flow. No matter how difficult it is, I still receive guidance and support from the team members and department heads.”

She added: “The CFI that I am most interested in is the second one at Build Bright University. Despite some technicalities, the delay did not bother the students attending. On the contrary, they had hot-pressed questions for our speakers to learn from the actual experiences of the senior achievers.”

Ms. LEANG Mengly (standing) congratulates the students who won the CFI 2.0 Q&A at BBU

  • The fifth and last CFI of the year screened all the six finalist short films from 2025! The six finalists from last year appeared for a Q&A session at the end of this session. That was why we have named it “Shoot Now, Shine Later”! The event took place on Saturday, June 20, 2026, at French Institute of Cambodia.

Following our festival presentation for film submission, we screened the six finalist films from our 14th edition, with the presence of their makers, coming to share their experiences with our varied audience, including indigenous youth from Ratanakiri province, as follows:

  • TY Sokun Theary – Actress in “Grandma Nai who Plays Favorites” (on behalf of Producer Daniel MATTES)
  • NON Vandeth – Director of “Old Building”
  • SAM Kosal – Actor in “Red Moon”
  • KANN Seraktepy – Director of “Burger”
  • KIMANN Sophasak – Co-Director of “Heartache”
  • PHON Sophannarith – Director of “Liza – the Chapter I”

Besides our Q&A moderated by our Festival Director, the audience got to learn from our speakers their practical experience and heartfelt inspiration, motivating our audience making their short films, and potentially in submitting their works to our festival in this 15th edition.

4. Volunteer Recruitment

While extending our submission deadline to July 20th, we announced our recruitment for volunteers on August 01st. Like in previous years, they played diverse pivotal roles in navigating and promoting each edition of pre-CSFF campaigns, from logistics and social media moderation to venue management and production. As a result, SFA has recruited 40 volunteers, following our dedicated interviews, both online and in person. We have purposely decreased the number, compared to last year’s, as we learned from previous years’ experience that we’d rather need more of them in our 2nd stage within this October.

Once accepted, they were oriented on our festival’s directions through Director’s presentation and team bonding activities at the space of our community partner, Ti Somjort. This year, despite expected annual turnover, the majority kept participating in our outreach campaigns so far, due to our updated rule and reward mechanisms.

5. OCs 1.0 to 11.0

In order to mobilize our audiences to the upcoming festival screenings, we conducted a series of Audience Outreach Campaigns (OCs) at partner-venues. Leveraging on our good practice last year, we customize our film curation with the nature of each venue.

  • The first one (OC 1.0) dated back on July 31st, as it was organized, as part of PSE’s Career Fair. In this spirit, the festival committee and our interns went on site to provide relevant information to students who will graduate from our community partner, PSE Institute.

In particular, we have already signed a partnership agreement with the institute’s Film School, looking forward to working closely with film students from PSE. Meanwhile, students from other schools also were given the opportunity to explore other volunteer opportunities, as they can look to serve in the following areas:

1. Event/Campaign Management

2. Online Communication

3. Production

4. Administration

5. Partnership Coordination

6. Stage/Merchandise Design

7. Others.

  • Our second outreach (OC 2.0) and another 10 OCs were conducted in the following room, starting September 07th at Norton University and ending with Sabay Cinema – AEON 1, on October 05th.
  • Unlike in previous editions, two differences were explored in our current edition.

1. We have customized our content curation based on the nature of each venue:

  • Norton University and American University of Phnom Penh, screening films made by students;
  • Cambodian Living Arts and F3, on culture and arts;
  • Meta House and Lumiere Phnom Penh, on local films with international collaboration;
  • Bophana Center and Impact Hub Phnom Penh, on documentaries;
  • Legend Cinema and Sabay Cinema, on entertaining short films.

2. We purposely removed the Q&A session with the filmmakers, although they were still updated and invited to our screenings of their films (selected from our previous editions). This was designed for us to interact more with our audience and keep our OCs as efficient as possible.

In average, our audience turnout ranged between 20 and 40 per venue, reflecting on the increased interest in our festival’s momentum since its foundation and earlier campaigns.

III. Next Milestones

      From this October till end of this year, below are our upcoming activities:

  • OCs 10.0 and 11.0, respectively at Lumiere Phnom Penh and Sabay Cinema – AEON 1
  • Volunteer Warmup – October 17th
  • Press Conference – October 23rd
  • Opening Ceremony – October 30th
  • Screenings – October 30th to November 02n
  • Closing Ceremony and Award Handover – November 02nd
  • Volunteer Wrap-up and Reflection – November 07th
  • CSFF Re-screenings in Battambang– November
  • CSFF Re-screenings in Siem Reap and Kep – December

Supporters and Partners

The 15th Chaktomuk Short Film Festival is made possible through the generous support of national and international partners, including:

  • Institutional Partners: Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Ministry of Information, Cambodia Tourism Marketing and Promotion Board.
  • International Partner Festivals: Show Me Shorts Film Festival (New Zealand), All Asia Independent Film Festival.
  • Cultural & Arts Partners: Silapak Tracheak Pnek Art Gallery, Cambodian Living Arts (CLA), French Institute of Cambodia (IFC), Meta House, Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, F3, Creative Generation, Lumiere Phnom Penh.
  • Technical Partners: Camera Hut, Aputure, Amaran, Canon, Mekong Link, Cemtes Co., Ltd., RUB Media, Kongchak Pictures, Karre Mouy, Kampu Screen.
  • Educational Partners: Department of Media and Communication (DMC), PSE Film School, Norton University, Build Bright University, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology Cambodia, American University of Phnom Penh.
  • Hospitality & Community Partners: Millennium Destinations, Aquation Office Park, Ti Somjort, Amanjaya Hotel.
  • Supply Partners: 11:11, Adore Cafes, Neal Bakery
  • Media Partners: Prochea Kaset, AMS (in Cambodia), Cinemata (in Asia)

Despite this varied support, mainly in kind, we are still looking for additional funds to cover our operations, staff incentives, and cash prizes for our local winners, for the upcoming main festival ceremonies and screenings. If you wish to support us, please scan the QR code below for your contributions.

For more updates, please follow us on the following platforms: 

*Other information will be available upon request.

By admin CFF

Largest short film festival in Cambodia, since 2012, profiling up new works from Cambodia and around the world.