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  Films THE BIG SCREEN...
 
  Beyond Brothers – Paramount Pictures – 2000-2002
 
Originally Oliver Stone’s baby, the Beyond Borders team came to Cambodia in summer 2000 for a preliminary scout. UK-based location manager Sam Breckman worked with Hanuman Films co-founders Nick Ray and Kulikar Sotho, scouting around the temples of Angkor, the capital Phnom Penh and the South Coast. Oliver Stone eventually pulled out of the project and the script did the rounds for a year or more.
It was finally shot in 2002 with Director Martin Campbell and Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen starring. It was released in October 2003. Our team worked with the Art Department, sourcing props and costumes from the late-1980s communist period in Cambodia for the set in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
 
  Tomb Raider – Paramount British Pictures – 2000
 

Tomb Raider was the first major Hollywood film to shoot in Cambodia since Peter O’Toole starred in Lord Jim in 1964. The Tomb Raider crew were all set to travel to China to film the Terracotta Army coming to life, when the sequence was pulled at the last minute, as it had already been featured in a Chinese movie. Cambodia was next on the list and Hanuman Films was chosen for scouting at Angkor. Following a successful scout with a full technical crew, Paramount British Pictures appointed Hanuman Films as their local servicing partner in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Kulikar Sotho worked as Local Liason Manager, essentially Line Producer, arranging all filming permissions, script approval, temporary import/re-export of equipment, visas, accommodation, transport and catering for the production. Nick Ray worked as Location Manager on the film, selecting locations for the shoot, building a photographic inventory of the temples used in shooting, approving all sets or alterations to be made at each site and working with local authorities every step of the way to ensure this first sensitive shoot at Angkor passed without incident.
 
Hanuman Films also took responsibility for recruitment of extras, recruitment of site security, recruitment of humpers and labourers and recruitment of a large team of interpreters (some turned out to be more like interrupters, but most acquitted themselves well!).
 
Notable milestones passed during production included:
 
  1. Securing the support of the Council of Ministers for the project to go ahead, despite some high level objections;
  2. Obtaining permission to build a traditional floating village on the royal pond at Angkor Wat;
  3. Getting nine containers over the roads from hell in the middle of the wet season, taking five days for the trucks to cover just 320km;
  4. Juggling the shooting schedule around the state visit of President Jiang Zemin of China and King Norodom Sihanouk to Angkor;
  5. Arranging the safe arrival of 30 or so servicing vehicles from Thailand, another journey from hell that required two army units to build bridges along the way;
  6. And a successful wrap after eight days of dawn 'til dusk intensity, making Cambodia the smoothest part of the shoot for the crew.

Tomb Raider premiered on June 15th 2001 at Mann’s Theatre in Los Angeles. Nick and Kulikar were both invited to the premiere and stayed with Producer Lloyd Levin for a long weekend of partying.

 
  Two Brothers – Pathe Films – 2001-2002
 
Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Two Brothers, starring Guy Pearce, is the story of two young tigers in colonial Cambodia and their struggle for survival in a human world. A Disneyesque plot it may be, but it is beautifully shot around the temples of Angkor and some groundbreaking locations in north-east Cambodia. Nick Ray worked as location scout on Two Brothers, selecting the locations throughout Cambodia. Nick scouted with JJ around the temples of Angkor for a week in June 2001, before the director returned with Producer Xavier Castano in November 2001 for a second scout of principal locations. JJ and Nick made two motorbike assaults on the remote jungle temple of Preah Khan in Preah Vihear province, but eventually had to concede defeat after some memorable adventures and take a helicopter instead.
 
From March 2002, Nick worked with First Assistant Director Christophe Cheysson, tracking down locations throughout Cambodia. Regions of Cambodia covered included Battambang, Kampot, Kratie, Kompong Cham, Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri. In April, JJ returned with a team of personnel for a full technical scout throughout Cambodia to select the final shortlist of locations. By May, most of the locations were finalised ready for the shoot in October, but Nick was unable to work with the production crew due to prior work commitments in Uganda and Rwanda on behalf of Lonely Planet.
 

Kulikar Sotho worked on the full technical scout, arranging all logistics such as accommodation, transport and catering. She also worked as a facilitator and translator for the team on their travels around Cambodia in April and May.
Two Brothers is due for general release in early 2004.

 
  Five thieves (Paanch Kaurav)
 
Paanch Kaurav, or Five Thieves, is the latest action film from young Indian director Rakesh Mehra. With a pulsating plot owing a debt to action flicks like Indiana Jones and The Mummy, it tells the story of a team of treasure seekers in British India. Director Rakesh and Art Director Samir Chanda visited Cambodia in July 2003 to scout locations for the film. Nick Ray scouted with them for one week around the temples of Angkor and will team up with the production in Cambodia once the locations in India are bedded down.
 
  TELEVISION THE SMALL SCREEN...
 
  A New History of the 20th century – Blakeway/Discovery – 2005
 
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.
 
  The Challenge – The Travel Channel – 2005
 
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: Snakemaster – Animal Planet – 2005
 
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.
 
  Survivors: Chris Moon – Darlow Smithson/Discovery – 2005
 
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.
 
  Timewatch Pol Pot – BBC – 2005
 
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 Really Wild Show – BBC – 2004
 
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.
 
  Around the World in 80 Treasures – BBC – 2004
 
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 Jungle – ITV – 2004
 
This flagship ITV mini-series examines the relationship between man and the forest and in the final episode, the team visited Angkor to understand the relationship between deforestation and the decline of the Khmer Empire. Filming in June 2004, the team included Presenter Professor Charles Higham, author of ‘The Civilisation of Angkor’. Shooting for a week at selected temples around Angkor, the crew also travelled to the riverbed carvings of Kbal Spean. The sequences in Cambodia included a short drama recreation of a royal hunting party stumbling across the temples while travelling through the area by elephant in the 16th century.
 
  Worlds Apart – National Geographic – 2003
 
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.
 
  Lonely Planet Cambodia – Discovery Channel – 2000
 
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.
 
  The Race – Thames Television – 2001
 
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.
 
  Wish You Were Here? – ITV – 2002
 
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 – NBC – 2002
 
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.
 
  BBC Holiday – BBC – 2003
 
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 From Earth – Ghost-2-Eleven – 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.
 
  COMMERCIALS

SELL, SELL, SELL...200

 
  Pfizer Promotion Film – Drescher Films – 2005
 
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer produced a commercial to highlight their foundation work in Cambodia, Morocco and Uganda and Hanuman worked with Drescher Films to make this possible in Cambodia. Filming an intern at the Angkor Children’s Hospital in Siem Reap, the crew had a short but sweet shoot, basing themselves at FCC Angkor Hotel. We also hired a local lighting team for the interiors at the hospital.
 
  Dragon Air – Moviola – 2002
 
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.
 
  Landmines Awareness – Warner Bros/Falling Pine – 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.
   
 
 
   
 
   

SELECTED CREDITS

 
  Tomb Raider
  Two Brothers
  Beyond Borders
  Five Thieves
  Lonely Planet
  BBC Holiday
  WYWH?
  NBC Today
  The Race
  Rain Falls from Earth
  Dragon Air
  Warner Bros
 
 
 
 

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