Sotho Kulikar

Sotho Kulikar is the talented film director of Cambodian and Chinese Cinema. She made her debut in the year 1999. She worked as a translator and a fixer with Ian Wright for Lonely Planet Television Channel. She travelled via various remote places with the cast and the crew and saw the shot set-up. The fixture of the camera, execution of the story, all this attracted her, and she learned them well. She observed the director of the show carefully and tried to adapt the things.

She then worked as the location manager for the film ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’, which starred Angelina Jolie Who will not be stung with her “pouting lips?” Ang >> Read More... and was a superhit. She did her job with full dedication and more than what was given to her. She took care of the logistics, cast, direction, production, design, etc. The shoot set-up was in Cambodia, and it was there for thirty-five years. She was under pressure to look upon things and to ensure everything went without flaws, but she did her job very well. Seeing her good work, producer Colin Wilson Colin Wilson was a British Philosopher, novelist, >> Read More... appointed her as the assistant director and she was found directing the extras.

Direction was what she had always wanted to do. She was proud to direct a movie in her country. And from then till now, she did not stop. She continued working on many documentaries as well as the feature films. She has almost worked in all departments of cinema, but direction is something she adores.

In the year 2004, she did the BBC drama which was based on the life of Pol Pot and very well depicted his struggles and success. She met rank and file KR cadre and various other officers and interviewed them. The interview made her clear that from this point of time she would have to direct a movie from Cambodia’s point of view. In 2010, she worked on a documentary Brother Number One and visited the village where her father vanished. She had the instinct that she would have to give justice to her father and all other Cambodians. Since then she has been directing movies for fourteen years.

She has recently directed the award winning film The Last Reel which threw light upon the social issues of the society. It depicted the struggle of a frustrated and a confused girl burdened by the views of a conservative family. The movie premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the audience and the critics loved it.