Chinese, Cambodian companies sign MOU to co-produce feature film

The signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of the China-Cambodia co-production feature film The Angkor Code was held in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, between China's Shinework Pictures and Cambodia's Soma Group on Friday. 

At the signing ceremony, Krasna Cham, chairwoman and CEO of Soma Group, and Jonathan Shen, chairman of Shinework Pictures, attended as representatives of both parties and signed the MOU.

"The co-production of The Angkor Code with Shinework Pictures is a landmark event for cultural exchange between Cambodia and China. The film will vividly showcase Angkor Wat's historical heritage and modern vitality to audiences in China and around the world," Krasna Cham said

"This collaboration represents another attempt and practice for Shinework Pictures to engage in international co-productions under the Belt and Road Initiative. Through The Angkor Code, we hope to present Cambodia's contemporary spirit and the friendship between our two nations," Jonathan Shen said.

The Angkor Code will be an adventure-action spanning China and Cambodia, set against the backdrop of Angkor Wat's millennia-old civilization. The film will primarily be shot in both countries, bringing together top-tier creative teams from China, Cambodia and the international film industry. With leading filmmakers from both nations collaborating, the movie promises to deliver a visual and intellectual feast blending Eastern wisdom and spectacle to global audiences.

In June, when The Composer, a China-Kazakhstan co-production film initiated and produced by Shinework Pictures, won the "Golden Longdu" Award for Best Picture in the main competition at the 2nd Cambodia Asian Film Festival in Phnom Penh, Som Sokun, Cambodia's vice-minister of culture and fine arts, and Borak Pok, director of the film department, jointly congratulated Shen, as the producer of The Composer. Subsequently, then-Cambodian minister of tourism Sok Soken, Minister of Information Neth Pheaktra, and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin also met with Jonathan Shen to extend their congratulations. They encouraged Shinework Pictures to deepen film collaborations with Cambodian partners, using co-productions to promote mutual cultural appreciation and the "ironclad" friendship between the two countries.