Compared to my last post, this is not very relevant to anything political, but was a cool experience. To quote a musician who is also irrelevant to this blog, it was "sweet & dandy".
My German friend, Anna, is friends with Manu. Manu works at a French-supported community-based organization (CBO) called Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS). Actually, it was started by youth living in Thai-Cambodian refugee camps in 1986. PPS is now a Battambang-based NGO which seeks to use art as a method of rehabilitation for youth who have undergone experiences in trafficking, drug-abuse, sex work, abuse and the plethora of other traumas which can severely affect a young person. More information can be found at (www.phareps.org). On a nice side note, Anna met Manu on a bus to Kratie province. Such is the wonderful world of travelling, no?
We found out this week that the Centre Culturel Francais (ou le French Cultural Centre for those of you who weren't lucky enough to undergo mandatory French education until grade 9) was hosting a performance by PPS this samedi. The CCF (www.ccf-cambodge.org) is a really cool place and has been a nice diversion from my usual night-owl activities for the last month, which I was slowly getting really tired of. Anyways, this wasn't just any performance.....it was a really unique one.
It was a cine-concert. Music and cinema? How does that work? Don't they already go fairly well together? Well, you need a silent film, a Buster Keaton one for that matter. And you need a band. A Cambodian one, comprised of young people who learned the craft from the wonderful teachers at PPS. I forget to mention that this was all under the stars...in the outdoor theater at the CCF. The film was The General....ou Le mécano de la General Création...and because it was a Buster Keaton extravanganza that took place in Civil War Era USA, the combination of local sounds, not only your toots and whistles, but also some nice Cambodian melodies as well, meshed extremely well! BRAVO! I should also mention that it was a live band performing this congruous euphony. I couldn't decide whether I should be watching the screen or the instruments. Of course, the film was a silent one, so watching probably would have been better. The sounds could speak for themselves while the screen couldn't necessarily do that...
And then it started raining.
It had been trickling down on us throughout the cine-concert, but who can't handle a few drops, no? Then it really started coming down....Cambo-style. So alas, I will never find out if Buster wins the war, saves la femme and gets back on his train.
I suppose this is where I end this blog-post.
Alas.
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