Cambodia’s Sastra Film Makes Cannes Debut With English & Khmer-Language Horror Slate 

EXCLUSIVE: Cambodian production house Sastra Film International is attending Cannes for the first time with a library of horror titles, including its first push into English-language production with supernatural horror title Faceless. 

Directed by Jeremiah Kipp, the film stars Bella Mraz, James Preston, Holley Johnson and Ryan Bertorche, who travelled to Cambodia to shoot the film. Based on a story by Sastra Film founder Bun Channimol, the film follows a group of YouTube ghost-hunters who encounter an evil force in the Cambodian jungle. 

Sastra is in talks with global distributors for the recently completed film. Kipp is known for Shudder Original Slapface (2021), while recent credits include The Mortuary Assistant, also released on Shudder. The film marks Sastra’s first collaboration with Western horror talent. 

Also on Sastra’s slate, which is being repped in Cannes by Singapore-based Wave Films, is English-language horror Mama’s Here, directed by Bun Chanpich and starring Samantha Drews, Chheng Liza and John Sak. Currently in post-production, the film combines Cambodian cultural narratives with English-language accessibility.

Sastra and Wave are also selling a library of around 20 Khmer-language horror films, headed by current theatrical release Death Marriage, which has grossed more than $600,000 at the Cambodian box office and is still playing. Directed by Bun Chanpich, the film stars Siguek Prek, Pammy and Sovan Sonita. 

“We’ve spent more than a decade building Sastra Film into Cambodia’s largest studio,” said Sastra Film founder and CEO Bun Channimol. “Cannes is where we introduce our production quality to the rest of the world.” 

Established in 2015, Sastra started out producing music videos and television series, moving into feature film production with the rise of Cambodia’s theatrical market over the past three to four years. 

The company now operates a 300-person production and distribution hub in Phnom Penh, producing ten films last year and aiming to double that output to 20 films this year, from development through post-production. While nearly all these films are released theatrically in Cambodia, the studio also operates its own Sastra Film streaming app.

“What makes Sastra compelling for international buyers is consistency – a pipeline of proven content from a single studio, at production costs roughly one-quarter of comparable Western budgets,” said Wave Films managing director Jerry Koedding. “This isn’t a one-title play. We’re offering streamers and distributors a reliable source of genre content backed by domestic theatrical track records.” 

Sastra’s next step is producing a pipeline of English-language horror films designed specifically for global audiences, with five titles planned for 2026. “The studio’s horror films draw from Cambodian folklore and cultural traditions that share DNA with Southeast Asian genre cinema, both of which have built significant international followings,” Koedding added. 

Cambodia’s local production sector is booming due to the expansion of new cinemas with box office growing by 40% to reach $16M in 2024 from just 130 screens. 

Based in Singapore, Wave Films is a production services company operating across Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and the UK, with more than 400 hours of content produced for international broadcasters and global brands. The company also serves as international sales representative for select titles, with Sastra Films’ catalogue as its flagship genre slate.