Cambodian production company Anti-Archive has unveiled its robust 2025/26 slate, featuring a mix of homegrown talent and international co-productions that showcase the country’s evolving cinematic landscape, at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market.
The company recently celebrated success with “Becoming Human,” directed by Polen Ly, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival 2025 before its Asian premiere at the Busan International Film Festival. The fiction film follows the story of Thida, a young woman’s soul dwelling as guardian spirit in an abandoned cinema, who reveals herself after repeated visits from Hai, a living man.
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“Anti-Archive was originally founded ten years ago to produce a new generation of Cambodian filmmakers, bringing their voices, stories, and perspectives to the world,” says Daniel Mattes from Anti-Archive. “We are excited to develop and present a new slate of films from directors intent on presenting profound and groundbreaking depictions of the country’s contemporary experience, with critical awareness of their historical roots.”
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The upcoming slate includes “To Leave, To Stay,” a Cannes La Fabrique 2025 project directed by Danech San. The fiction film, currently in development for 2026/27, follows Mera who travels with her friend Bopha to visit a soldier she met online, only for Mera to go missing weeks later as Bopha’s search begins.
“Anti-Archive’s short film roster spans documentary and fiction works, including “Crab” by Kanitha Tith, “Fresh as Daisy” by Socheata Van, and “Earth & Us” by Sreylin Meas, all currently in post-production. Additional shorts include “Shadows” by Sreileak Prum, “The Night Seekers” by Kavich Neang, and “Ba Phnum” by Savunthara Seng.”
The company is expanding its international footprint through several co-productions. “Little Phnom Penh,” directed by Cambodian filmmaker Chheangkea, is being co-produced with NoMad Productions in France. The fiction film, slated for 2027, spans two decades from post-Khmer Rouge Phnom Penh to early 2000s California, following a Cambodian woman grappling with identity, family, and love amid cultural upheaval.
International collaborations include “Promised Spaces” by Ivan Marković, a hybrid fiction exploring contemporary Cambodia’s transformed cityscapes and the lives of construction workers and homebuyers. The France/Germany/Serbia/Cambodia co-production is led by Bocalupo Films and Fiskultura Films, with additional co-production by Big Time Production in Serbia.
“Notes of a Crocodile,” directed by Daphne Xu as a Canada/China/Cambodia co-production, follows a Chinese woman searching across Cambodia for her mysteriously disappeared ex-girlfriend, traveling from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville along the proposed Funan Techo Canal route.
Anti-Archive is also co-producing “Backbone Shivers,” a documentary by Mickaël Damperon, led by producer L’image d’après in France.
Mattes emphasizes the company’s commitment to fostering diverse voices: “They are united by their search for new cinematic forms and ways of speaking and expressing themselves. We work with filmmakers close to us as they take their first steps or continue their next projects beyond, and we also welcome collaborations with similarly critically-minded international filmmakers who bring their own perspective to shooting in Cambodia.”
Beyond production, Anti-Archive supports regional cinema through initiatives including Margin, an independent film magazine celebrating Southeast Asian cinema, and the Kampung Film Festival on Koh Sdach island, founded by filmmaker Danech San.
“Across all the films in our upcoming slate of projects, we are proud of its diverse range of views, personalities, styles, and subjects, but we also find a shared commitment to cinema as a means to explore the world around us and to share that exploration with audiences in Cambodia and beyond,” Mattes concludes.
