Vanheng Kim
Vanheng is a member of the New Asian Producer Network (NAPNET), a Fellow and Graduate of the Busan Asian Film School, a co-founder and general secretary of the Cambodian International Film Festival (CIFF), and former Managing Director of CATCH International in Cambodia, a business development initiative targeting the global Asian market. Chandara is a film producer and line producer, as well as a former production assistant for Oscar-nominated film The Missing Picture by Rithy Panh (2013) and the Netflix production First They Killed My Father by Angelina Jolie (2017).
He started his career at the Cambodia Film Commission (CFC) where he served as Senior Film Commissioner from 2010 to 2016. Through his work at the CFC, he became involved in hundreds of international films, movies, TV and reality shows, short films, and documentaries. He currently develops and produces documentary and fiction films, such as In the Shade by Visal Sok (2016), winner of the Best Pitching Award at Link of Cine Asia at the Busan International Film Festival in 2017. In 2018, he traveled to the United States to produce Double Jeopardy, a participatory documentary film by Phally Ngoeum that tells the story of a Cambodian American deportee living in the United States.
Since his return from the United States, he works in research development and funding for major projects with Catch Studios in Los Angeles. He still advises the CFC, works with festivals, communities, and international studios and production houses, and is passionate about community building and working with a new generation of Cambodian filmmakers. In response to this mission, he co-founded his production house KUDU Studios in 2020 and filmmaker community center Ciné Hub in 2022. Chandara holds two M.B.A.s in Entrepreneurship and Project Management from Lyon II in France and a B.A. in French Literature from the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
EXPERIENCES:
Digital Marketing Intern | Fly Phnom Penh Phnom Penh | 07.2023 – 10.2023
• Ensured all content was on-brand, consistent in term of style, quality and voice on a 2-person team.
• Developed a functional content calendar and managed social media pages with daily posting.
• Communicated and planned a 5th year anniversary event and dodgeball tournament.
Marketing Lead | Action Hope Event Phnom Penh | 02.2023 – 06.2023
• Led a team of 6 members on media production, social media content, and merchandise design.
• Developed a functional content calendar and managed social media pages with educational and informative posting.
• Closely worked with and communicated with the event leader to create an marketing campaign.
Lead Designer | Children’s Nutrition Exploration Phnom Penh | 2021
• Created and distributed content for the Child Nutrition project, which aimed to educate parents, especially those that live in rural communities, about the value of nutrition and how it impacts the growth and development of their children.
• Oversaw 6 members on task progress and filled the check-in report with the project facilitator.
Design Engineer Intern + Certified Professional Solid Edge user | STEAMING Cambodia Phnom Penh | 2022
• Led team to design a 3D prototype of an electrical wheelchair to inspire and promote awareness of engineering to the next cohort of the STEAMING Academia 4.0 program.
Project Coordinator | Engineering for Girls Phnom Penh | 2022
• Facilitated workshops for female students in 3 different government schools to encourage engineering through the introduction of simple machines and clean energy generator models.
CubeSat Engineer | Liger Leadership Academy Phnom Penh | 2020
• Studied radio operating procedures, worked with microcontrollers and Arduino in order to build support for the potential launch of the first Cambodian CubeSat, intended to be sent to space and capture images of the planet.
Project Leader | Constructed Wetland Toilet Phnom Penh | 2023
• Built a sustainable toilet for a rural government school using the constructed wetland system.
• Communicated closely with multiple stakeholders in order to pursue the implementation of wetland toilet.
• Promote the implementation of project-based learning throughout Cambodia.
Speaker | TEDxLiger Phnom Penh | 2022
• Spoke on the topic of “The Fantasy of Imagination” to around 100 students at the LSi Business School.
• Wrote a speech that analyzes how successful innovators use imagination to come up with their new inventions.
