Cambodian talents at Cannes 2026: When Promised Spaces opens a window to the world

Three Cambodian actors walk the Croisette for the world premiere of an event film selected at ACID 2026. A historic moment for Khmer cinema.

Photo: Zsofi Lili Kovacs, Armel

La Croisette, a new stage for Cambodian cinema

This year, the Cannes Film Festival resonates with a voice from Southeast Asia. The film Promised Spaces, directed by Ivan Marković, has been selected for the ACID program at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it makes its world premiere. In its cast are three Cambodian actors: Kong Vollak, Vita Vong, and Lyer Von—names still relatively unknown to the international public, but who carry on their shoulders a film whose uniqueness has already impressed some of the most demanding programmers in independent cinema.

The official premiere screening took place on Saturday, May 16, followed by a second screening on Monday, May 18. For these three actors, walking the steps of the Palais des Festivals is not just a personal achievement—it is a strong signal sent to an entire film industry undergoing a renaissance.

Promised Spaces: Cambodia through the lens of social divisionPromised Spaces is a co-production between France, Germany, Serbia, and Cambodia, led by Bocalupo Films (France), Fiskultura Films (Germany), Big Time Production (Serbia), and Anti-Archive (Cambodia).

The film tells two realities that coexist without ever truly intersecting. On one side, Sokun, a worker who leaves his overcrowded dormitory to join a community of laborers living in one of many unfinished towers. On the other, Seda, the first resident of a luxurious residential complex, who feels trapped within this vast enclosed space.

The film does not rely on a traditional plot or heavily dramatized conflicts. Instead, it presents a quiet collage of two parallel realities: on one side, non-professional workers building Cambodia’s luxury towers; on the other, the first residents of these complexes.

Ivan Marković explains his approach:

“Promised Spaces explores how architecture embodies social segregation, isolating individuals according to their class. By blending fiction with real locations and non-actors, the film follows characters from different backgrounds—construction workers and residents of gated luxury communities—to depict rapidly expanding urban landscapes in Cambodia.”

The director: Ivan Marković, a Serbo-Berlin perspective on Asia

Ivan Marković was born on April 19, 1989, in Belgrade. Trained as a cinematographer, he is also a director and editor. He earned his master’s degree in Art and Media from the Berlin University of the Arts in 2019 and worked as director of photography on several feature films, including Ich war zuhause, aber by Angela Schanelec, which won the Silver Bear at the 2019 Berlinale.

Both a visual artist and filmmaker, his recent work focuses on the various connotations of space and examines the relationship between architecture and ideology. Promised Spaces continues this line of inquiry: Marković uses a hypnotic visual language to capture global social inequalities hidden behind the glamour of Cambodian real estate. Through static, geometric, and extended shots, he lingers on empty spaces, landscapes, and the human body.

ACID: Cannes’ section that champions independent voicesBeing selected for ACID is no minor detail. Founded in 1992, the Association for the Distribution of Independent Cinema has presented its own parallel section at the Cannes Film Festival since 1993. Its selection committee, composed of filmmakers who are members of the association, primarily programs debut works and prioritizes boldness, innovation, and experimentation—with the aim of defending free and independent cinema.

Filmmakers who have passed through ACID include Radu Jude, Justine Triet, and Lucas Belvaux.

For this 34th edition, 13 filmmakers reviewed hundreds of films to select only 9, including 6 debut feature films. Promised Spaces is among them—a selection made even more remarkable by the fact that the film had no distributor at the time of its presentation.

Anti-Archive: a driving force in new Cambodian cinemaBehind Cambodia’s presence in this film is a production company worth noting. Anti-Archive is a Cambodian film production company founded in 2014 by filmmakers Davy Chou, Steve Chen, and Kavich Neang.

It produces and co-produces fiction and documentary films led by a new generation of Cambodian directors, as well as works by international independent filmmakers shooting in Cambodia and Southeast Asia. The company has recently achieved notable success, particularly with Becoming Human by Polen Ly, presented at the 2025 Venice Film Festival before its Asian premiere at BIFF. Promised Spaces fits into this strategy of international outreach—a four-country co-production that positions Cambodia as a creative partner, not merely an exotic backdrop.

A national pride

For Kong Vollak, Vita Vong, and Lyer Von, this invitation to Cannes goes far beyond an individual career milestone. The film blends elements of fiction and documentary and examines the consequences of rapid urbanization and speculative development, raising questions about identity, community, and the very notion of home.

These themes resonate deeply in a Cambodia where Phnom Penh is transforming at great speed.

The images captured through Marković’s lens linger long after the film ends. And if this feature soon finds its way into Cambodian theaters, there is no doubt that local audiences will recognize—with emotion and perhaps a certain vertigo—their own country, seen from within as never before on screen.