Popcorn

Cambodian have always enjoyed cinema. In the 1960s the late King Father was a prolific film maker who starred in his own productions as well as writing the scripts and music.There were several cinemas in Phnom Penh and many small towns .The Khmer Rouge saw these as part of the Western culture that they despised and destroyed most of them as well as executing anyone involved with the industry .Cinema is now making a come back . There are now one or two very Western style cinemas in Phnom Penh but my favourite is The Flicks. This is a community cinema opened in 2009 by a cinema enthusiast in his own house. The seats are comfy and there are cushions to lie on. It is volunteer run and all profit goes back into the cinema. Flicks 2 opened last year and now throughout this dry season we have Flicks 3 which is open air. As with all the best cinemas popcorn is available. Corn is very popular in Cambodia. There is a street in Phnom Penh where lots of ladies set up their corn barrows in the evenings. On one end of the barrow is a big pot of boiling water and fresh corn is boiled for you as you wait. On the other end of the barrow is a big pan where you can get freshly popped corn. All delicious.This photo shows one of the barrows that is bought along to Flicks 3 so that open air cinema goers can get their fix.I like to think that the Buddha in the background is happy to see the re incarnation of this popular past time!