Wealthy banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn left the world of investment banking in the early 20th century to travel the world and create a photographic archive of the people, cultures and monuments of the world. The collection was forgotten for many years, but eventually came to light again. In this series, the BBC travelled the world to visit places photographed by Albert Kahn in the 1920s, including the temples of Angkor. He also took many shots of classical dancers and landmark buildings in Phnom Penh. Hanuman Films was selected as the film servicing company for this project.

A film about Andrew Shelley’s solo world tour in his all terrain power chair, this is the story of commitment and determination. The story is driven by the drama and conflict that naturally arises from Andrew¹s partial reliance on a power chair, due to his affliction with muscular dystrophy, to navigate through the most remote and exotic regions of the globe. This journey is the ultimate story of discovery and an inspiration to disabled people everywhere.

Now in its ninth season the internationally acclaimed documentary series Turning Points of History examines events of the 20th Century that have changed the world in which we live. It allows us to watch history as it unfolded through the eyes of eyewitnesses and principal players. The series has won close to 200 Canadian and international awards and boasts an impressive track record of strong filmmaking combined with impeccable journalism. For this show, the crew travelled to Cambodia to look into the legacy of the Khmer Rouge and protracted civil war in Cambodia, including the blight of landmines.

This popular History Channel show came to Cambodia to highlight the national sport of Pradal Serey or Khmer kickboxing. Often abbreviated to Thai boxing, the sport of kickboxing has its origins in the time of the Khmer empire and can be seen on the bas-reliefs at Angkor. Presenters Jason (ultimate fighter) and Bill (wrestler) studied the sport with leading fighters, as well as learning about older sports like Bokator. For the finale, Jason fought against leading local kickboxer Oth Phoutang, younger brother of Eh Phoutang, Cambodia’s all time leading kickboxer.

The 'Digging for the Truth' series is the highest rated series on the History Channel and explores the story of how the Angkor temples were constructed and the amazing advances in engineering and hydrology that the ancient Khmers developed in the Angkor area.  The hosts worked with conservation experts to help gain a better understanding of the historical and spiritual significance of the temples at Angkor.

1000 Places to See Before You Die is a travel show based on the best-selling book of the same name. The show features some of the world’s most iconic places and includes a sequence showing Angkor in Cambodia, plus some of the landmark buildings in Phnom Penh. Kulikar Sotho featured extensively as a tour guide in this show, introducing the host couple to many of the best known temples around Angkor and helping them sample the local cuisine and culture. The show also featured HanumanAlaya, our very own boutique hotel in Siem Reap.

This one-off show was part of the BBC Imagine series about the world of art. The show looks at guardians of famous art collections around the world, including the Louvre in Paris and the Hermitage in St Petersburg. In Cambodia, we decided on something completely different and featured the famous ‘Sweeper of Ta Prohm’, famously shown on the front cover of the 4th edition of the Lonely Planet guide to Cambodia. The story follows his work sweeping around the temples and life with his family, as well his thoughts on life, death and religion.

A flagship history series for Discovery, Professor Niall Ferguson takes a closer look at the tumultuous events of the last century. The crew came to Cambodia in September to film for a few days in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Locations included the Killing Fields of Choeng Ek and the riverfront area in the capital, as well as Angkor Wat. Kulikar Sotho worked as Fixer for the shoot and arranged all permissions and logistics.

This popular show pitted contestants against each other to try anc complete a variety of challenges around the world. Here in Cambodia the teams needed to work on a dolphin monitoring post for the Mekong Dolphin Conservation Project. The crew and teams came to Cambodia in August and spent several days in Kratie working with the local population. Kulikar Sotho worked as Fixer for the shoot and everything went smoothly.

Austin Stevens gets up close and personal with the snakes of Cambodia in this popular Animal Planet series. For the Cambodia episode, the crew spent two weeks with Fixer Nick Ray, filming in the mangrove swamps of Ream National Park, the lost jungle temple of Beng Mealea and the River of a Thousand Lingas at Kbal Spean. Working with a Russian snake specialist, the show featured several of Cambodia’s most dangerous snakes, including the banded krait and the Malayan pit viper, also nicknamed nature’s landmine due to its explosive bite.

Hanuman Films arranged all the permissions and logistics for the crew throughout Cambodia. This included a luxury tented camp in the bush for the week-long shoot at the remote temple of Beng Mealea, complete with showers, toilets and catering. The shoot went very successfully and included a number of local crew for lighting and smoke effects.

Following hot on the heels of Timewatch Pol Pot, the popular Discovery show Survivors came to Cambodia to film the story of amputee marathon runner Chris Moon’s kidnap by the Khmer Rouge in 1993. Chris Moon was working as a deminer for the Halo Trust and was kidnapped in Pursat province, but managed to successfully negotiate his release. He later lost his leg clearing landmines in Mozambique, but went on to run marathons all over the world, to raise money and awareness the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

Another drama-documentary, this project included many complicated drama scenes with dozens of extras on some days, plus a local crew to take care of casting, costume, props and make-up. Many scenes were shot in the jungle around Siem Reap, including Phnom Kulen and the remote road north to Anlong Veng. There were also several scenes involving a helicopter, supposedly set in Mozambique, which involved finding African extras in Phnom Penh, not as easy as it sounds.

This project ran over several weeks and confirmed Hanuman’s position as the number one service provider in Cambodia for drama-documentaries.

The award-winning Timewatch team travelled to Cambodia in April 2005 to film a feature-length special on the life of Pol Pot. This drama-documentary featured an innovative mix of drama recreations, interviews and archive footage from the Khmer Rouge period. Kulikar Sotho worked as Fixer and was able to work minor miracles in bringing everything together.

The drama scenes included more than a dozen leading local actors, more than 100 extras on some days, plus a local crew to take care of casting, costume, props and make-up. Locations were selected all over Cambodia including Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, as well as remote areas in Kompong Cham province. Some of the more sensitive scenes included the evacuation of Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975, which was filmed in Takhmau, and the clearing of houses in Phnom Penh in the days following the Khmer Rouge victory, which was filmed around O Russei Market in Phnom Penh. This involved clearing busy streets and extensive communication with the population to put them at ease.

Many of the interviewees were themselves senior Khmer Rouge cadre and Kulikar was able to arrange meetings with Brother Number Two, Nuon Chea, Nhim En, Tuol Sleng Prison photographer, Him Huoy, Chief Interrogator at Tuol Sleng Prison, and Youk Chhang, Director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia. Meeting with senior Khmer Rouge cadre took great personal strength and professionalism on the part of Kulikar, as many of her family were killed by the Khmer Rouge, including her father.

Although smaller in scale than the feature films Hanuman has worked on such as Tomb Raider, this was one of the most complicated projects we have undertaken, as the subject matter was so sensitive. With the imminent Khmer Rouge trial, the government were uncomfortable with the team interviewing surviving senior leaders and the public needed to be reassured before seeing hordes of Khmer Rouge troops swarming the streets of Phnom Penh once again. Plus we had to arrange all the filming and location permissions. The fact the shoot went so smoothly was down to the hard work and commitment of Kulikar and her excellent relationship with visionary director Andrew Williams.

The leading wildlife show for children in the UK, the Really Wild team came to Cambodia to film the Phnom Tamao Animal Sanctuary and the rare freshwater river dolphins in the Mekong near Kratie. Popular presenter Michela Strachan fronted the show and enjoyed meeting the gibbons, otters, tigers and sun bears at the wildlife sanctuary. She also got some glimpses of the rare dolphins, although they were fairly fleeting. The shoot went smoothly and helped to reinforce Hanuman’s reputation within the BBC.

This was a watershed project for Hanuman, as we crossed several borders to take responsibility for line producing in three countries in the region, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand. A major series for the BBC Arts team, Presenter Dan Cruickshank travelled five continents in search of the world’s most impressive treasures. These included the great Buddhist temple of Borobodur in Java, the unique culture of the Toraja people in Tana Toraja in Sulawesi, the majestic temples of Angkor Wat and the Bayon in Cambodia and the ancient capital of Ayuthaya in Thailand.

Nick Ray worked as Line Producer on this shoot for more than one month, travelling to Thailand and Indonesia to set up the sequences. He met the crew in Yogyakarta and Java and spent the next ten days travelling with them through Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand. The Tana Toraja shoot was particularly complicated as it involved a charter flight from Makassar to Rantepao and several sensitive sequences, including a funeral celebration and a visit to their sacred burial sites.

The Around the World in 80 Treasures was a great success in Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand and has led to a long-term partnership between Hanuman and the BBC, with Hanuman now the recognised supplier for Cambodia and much of the Mekong region beyond.

The Worlds Apart team came to Cambodia in December 2003 to film an American family living the local life with a Cambodian family near Siem Reap. Nick Ray worked as Fixer and assisted in selecting the family to work with in the Roluos area. Approaching by a combination of 4WD, speedboat and tractor, the Darwins were well and truly disorientated by the time they arrived. They spent one week living without electricity and running water, learning to fish and harvest rice. They also made a pilgrimage to the holy mountain of Phnom Kulen, including sleeping overnight next to the River of a Thousand Lingas. The ultimate cross-cultural experience, Worlds Apart was an eye-opener for everyone involved.

The BBC Holiday team came to Cambodia in March 2003 to feature Phnom Penh and the temples of Angkor on their long-running travel show. New presenter Jennifer Cox and a small crew spent five-days in-country putting together the programme. Kulikar Sotho worked as fixer for the shoot, arranging all accommodation and transport and looking after the crew during their time in Cambodia. The programme was screened in October 2003.

Rain Falls to Earth is a US documentary examining the impact of the Khmer Rouge on Cambodian society. The US audience is far less aware of crimes of the Khmer Rouge than might be expected given the US government’s involvement in Cambodia’s war. The film, produced and directed by Steve McClure, aims to bring the Cambodian trauma to a US audience, interviewing both victims and victimisers in Cambodia and the US about how the Khmer Rouge period has affected their lives. This challenging documentary is a haunting portrait of contemporary Cambodia and a people trying to rebuild their lives after many years of darkness. It is still in production and will be distributed for worldwide screening during 2004.

The Wish You Were Here? team flew into Cambodia to feature the temples of Angkor in a double-header show with the bright lights of Bangkok. Presenter Rhodri Thomas and a small crew spent two days with Fixer Kulikar Sotho and Location Adviser Nick Ray. The popular show was screened on the UK’s ITV channel in May 2002 with most of the running time dedicated to Angkor.

NBC Today, America’s leading breakfast television show, came to Cambodia in May 2002 to shoot a Cambodia special. Nick Ray was originally asked to front a live broadcast on the steps of Angkor Wat, but due to prior obligations he suggested the NBC crew feature his pro-poor tourism project Tourism Against Poverty (TAP) in remote Preah Vihear province. Nick travelled to the remote jungle temple of Preah Khan for his TAP assignment before meeting up with veteran NBC correspondent Keith Miller. Once together Nick drove Keith to a remote Angkorian bridge in the forest before continuing on to the jungle-covered temple of Beng Mealea. The team spent the night with a local family in a nearby village before exploring the temple the following day.

The segment ran for about four minutes during the Cambodia special, which was broadcast on NBC on 16th May 2002.

The Race, modelled on ABC’s popular Race Around the World, passed through South-East Asia in 2001. The young teams had a series of challenges to complete in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap before moving on to Thailand. Kulikar Sotho worked as Fixer on the production, looking after logistics for the teams and crew and chaperoning them during their time in Cambodia. The Race was broadcast on ITV2 in late-2001.

It was 1999 and Pilot Productions was yet to feature Cambodia in its popular Lonely Planet series. Nick Ray, author of the bestselling Lonely Planet guide to Cambodia, approached Pilot with an outline for a Cambodia show, knowing the time was right to feature the kingdom as tourism began to take off. Nick chose the locations to be featured in the one-hour show, before scouting them all with Producer Bini Adams and Fixer Kulikar Sotho.

Shooting took place in January 2000, as popular presenter Ian Wright and a small crew landed in Cambodia for a three-week shoot. We shot all over Cambodia, including Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Takeo, Kampot, Sihanoukville and Mondulkiri. Highlights included a hilltribe wedding in the village of Putang, a night in a wat at the sacred hill of Phnom Da and an encounter with a fortune teller at Angkor Wat. Presenter Ian Wright was so taken by Cambodia that when asked on a BBC Radio programme to where he would return if he could only go back to one country in his life, he chose Cambodia. Angelina Jolie, Jean-Jacques Annaud and many other industry stars feel much the same way, having succumbed to the charms of this kingdom.

The show was broadcast on the Discovery Channel Asia in June 2000 and has been repeated worldwide many times over the past few years.

Dragonair became the first international company to successfully feature Angkor Wat in a commercial shoot in spring 2002. Kulikar Sotho worked with Hong Kong-based Moviola Productions as Line Producer, taking responsibility for entire production in Cambodia. Kulikar arranged all filming permissions, including the sensitive dragon dance shoot at Angkor Wat, and arranged all logistics, such as accommodation, transport and import/re-export of equipment. During the five-day shoot, Kulikar also acted as interpreter for the 15-strong production crew from Hong Kong.

The commercial covered four countries, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan, but, according to the Moviola crew, it was in Cambodia that things ran most smoothly. It was broadcast in the Asia region from late-2002.

Film giant Warner Bros (WB) and the US government’s development arm USAID teamed up in 2002 to produce a public awareness film about the perils of landmines in Cambodia. Blending film and animation, the short commercial featured the everyday lives of Cambodian amputees and their struggle for survival. Primarily targeted at children, often the victims of landmines in remote areas, it was presented by some of WB’s most famous cartoon characters including Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Falling Pine Productions put the commercial together for WB and USAID and Kulikar Sotho worked as Fixer on the shoot, selecting the interviewees and villages to be featured. The commercial was broadcast across the Cambodian networks in late-2002.