Pisith Pilika

Pisith Pilika

Oak Eap Pili (4 February 1965 – 6 July 1999), was a Cambodian ballet dancer and actress. Pilika appeared in hundreds of movies and thousands of karaoke ranging from the 1980s through the 1990s. Her career was brought to a premature end when she was murdered in broad daylight at Phnom Penh's O'Russey Market. Though the crime amounted to one of the most high-profile killings in Cambodia’s recent history, no suspects have ever been identified or arrested.

Early life

Piseth Pilika was born to Oak Harl and Meng Mony in Svay Rieng province. Her father was a professor who taught French at the University of Korokosol. She had two sisters, divina and Daro; she herself being the oldest. Her birth name was Oak Eap Pili. After both of her parents died during the Khmer Rouge regime, Piseth Pilika and her two sisters were raised by their uncle. They changed their names to Sao Pili, Sao divina, and Sao Daro (respectively) after their uncle, Sao Piseth. Sao Daro, the youngest sister, died later on, leaving behind the two sisters. Pili began to study Cambodian cultural dance in 1980, supported by her aunt, Meng Sonali, a teacher at the School of Fine Arts. She completed her studies in 1988 and continued to work for the school as a lead dancer. Because of her perceived talent and beauty, she had begun to gain popularity. She was invited to star in her own movie called Sromorl Anthakal (Shadow of Darkness) by Wat Phnom Productions. By that time she had become a well-known figure in Cambodia. In 1989, she changed her name to Piseth Pilika.

Personal life

Piseth Pilika had been very involved in filmmaking, through which she came to meet Khai Praseth, also a well-known actor. The two played together in several films and music videos. They were married in 1990. In 1992, their first child, Kai Seth Lesak, was born. Piseth Pilika starred in more than sixty movies and was in numerous advertisements. Apart from making movies, she was also very active in stage performance. During her lifetime, she performed in many countries such as India, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Korea, Japan, Russia, France, Italy, Denmark, and the United States.

Death

On 6 July 1999, she was shot by an unidentified male assailant while shopping at O'Russey Market in Phnom Penh. A seven-year-old niece was also wounded in the shooting. She lay in critical condition in a hospital bed for a week until 6:30 am on 13 July 1999, when she died (UTC+7). Her funeral attracted 10,000 mourners—one of the largest-attended ceremonies in recent Cambodian history.

In October 1999, following Pisith Pilika's assassination, the French magazine L’Express claimed that the actress’ diary recounted a love affair with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and pointed to Bun Rany, Hun Sen's wife, as responsible for arranging the shooting. The magazine also claimed that on her deathbed the actress had named Bun Rany to several people. Bun Rany quickly denounced these charges, and announced that she would press charges against L’Express for defamation. The magazine responded by saying it had additional proof which it would produce in court if the threatened legal action went ahead. The alleged additional evidence included witnesses, documents, business papers and personal objects of Hun Sen which they said would prove the Prime Minister was involved in an affair with Pelika and that his wife had her killed out of jealousy. L'Express journalist Alain Louyot said the diary itself had been verified through hand writing and finger print analysis. No charges were ever brought against l'Express, however.

The murder of Pilika remains unsolved and no suspects have ever been identified in the killing. Kek Galabru, president of the human rights organization Licadho, described the lack of progress in the case as yet another example of the problem of impunity in Cambodia. In January 2003 a book entitled "Piseth Pilika: A True and Horrible Story," was published containing extracts from the slain star’s alleged personal diaries, in which she details an illicit love affair with a high-ranking official and threats against her life by the official’s jealous wife. The book sold well until it was pulled from the shelves by undercover and uniformed police officers, giving further credence to an alleged cover up.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisith_Pilika

Ampor Tevi

Ampor Tevi

Ampor Tevi (Khmer: អម្ពរ ទេវី; born 1970) is a Cambodian actress active in 1990s. Within the span of her career she has starred in numerous films, from movies to musical skits. Her career started in 1988 with her paired actor Sam Vityea. After Sam Vityea died that year, Ampor Tevi was often paired with fellow actor, also famous at the time, Tep Rindaro.

Biography

Ampor Tevi was born in 1970. She is the eldest child in the family among other 5 siblings. Her debut film was released in 1988 co-starring Sam Vityea, her ex co-star. She finished the 12th Grade at Bak Touk College of Fine Arts in 1989. She then got married to Pich Pirun who was also an actor from her generation in October,1992.

Career

After marriage, Tevi continued to act for more movies mostly with her co-star Tep Rindaro. Remarkably, her popularity went from just a regular movie star to a super movie star in just a few years. Every new movie released locally and overseas Ampor Tevi was a part of, and she was always the main character of the movie or music video. Everybody began to know her mostly as a playful and pretty young girl.

Cambodia was not completely peaceful in early 1990s. Wars were still going on in some places in the country. Over all Cambodian population were still very poor and needy, so Khmer entertainment productions and performing arts were not in Cambodians' minds at the time. Khmer movies were mostly sold overseas to few Cambodians who fled the country in early 1980s. Khmer cinematography and film productions were very primitive. So, Khmer movie productions were not sophisticated enough to compete with foreign movies from Thailand, India and Hong Kong. Local Cambodians would watch Thai, Indian or Chinese movies rather than Khmer movies. Only Cambodians who lived overseas watched Khmer movies or music videos because they missed Cambodia and that was the only way they could see Cambodia. That had adversely affected local Khmer film productions dramatically that most of Khmer movie production companies had to go out of business or stopped producing movies.By 1994, due to the governments demand, the fairly new Cambodian film industry came once again to an end leaving most actors like Ampor Tevi herself starring in karaoke videos up until the early 2000s. Despite of her popularity, Ampor Tevi had very few opportunities to act and began to lose her concertration. In 2001 Fai Sam Ang, the predominant movie director decided to create the well-known Khmer folktale story: Kone Puos Keng Kong(The Snake King's Child). Ampor Tevi was selected to act as Neang Ni, the main female character of the movie together with Tep Rindaro, Pich Chan Boremei and Winai Kraibutr a Thai leading actor who was also part of the movie. After the filming of Kone Puos Keng Kong, Ampor Tevi decided to leave Cambodia for USA, seeking for a better opportunity. Kon Pous King Kang was the last movie of her career.

Tep Rindaro

Early life

Tep Rindaro

Tep Rindaro was born in a village of Samrong, Battambang province, in western Cambodia and developed passion for films since the early age. His father had forbidden him from pursuing a career in the film industry, but Tep Rindaro had already made up his mind secretly. Instead, his own father wanted him to become a doctor, a career considered as prestigious and well-paying at that time. Because he was a good child, Rindaro chose to study something more practical. In 1981, he received a government scholarship to study in Russia as an airplane mechanic, but he continued to dream of stardom. He worked as a mechanic mainly for the benefits of his parents. In 1984, he returned to Cambodia from Russia with flying qualifications. Since there was no employment opportunities available at the Pochentong airport of Cambodia, now Phnom Penh International Airport, Rindaro decided to leave for Vietnam and work at Ho Chi Minh's airport for three years.

Career

Early success

Upon returning home from Ho Chi Minh City in 1987, he was stopped by another driver who was an owner of film production company. He knew Rindaro from Battambang province. Because his look was similar to a certain Cambodian actor who was famous at that time, he was offered a role in a film "Secret Tears in the Quiet Purple Night". With no acting training, his ability to act naturally came merely from other films he watched and his own imagination. Although he had been promised to, Rindaro in fact never got paid for his acting in his first film. The film did not end up successful, but Rindaro gathered attention of other producers. He was later offered roles in other films such as Bopha Phnom Penh by Fai Sam Ang or Ark Kambang Kech Sanyar. In later films, he for the first time met actress Ampor Tevi, who then became his most common acting partner for more than decade. During the early 90's, he starred in more than ten movies per year. In 1994, he was cast in Peasants in Distress, a drama film written and directed by the ruling king Norodom Sihanouk. As one of the most famous Cambodian celebrities of that time, Tep Rindaro with some other local celebrities attended a tour to the United States of America, which has a large community of Cambodians who fled during the Khmer Rouge era.

Later career

During the late 90's, Cambodian cinema suffered from lack of funding and interest from producers, Tep Rindaro started to act in karaoke music videos. Some of them were with Dy Saveth, one of the most popular actresses of pre-Khmer Rouge cinema. Until 2001, all films made in Cambodia were cheap productions released directly as videotapes; however, this changed when Fai Sam Ang directed a Cambodia-Thai horror film The Snake King's Child, based on a famous Khmer legend about Snake King. This first-ever full-length feature film for cinema to be produced in Cambodia since 1975 featured Thai leading man Winai Kraibutr, and Tep Rindaro was offered a role of Snake King, with his longtime acting partner Ampor Tevi as his lover. This was also the last collaboration of this famous pair on screen, as Ampor Tevi sometime after release ended her acting career and moved to the USA. After a big success of The Snake King's Child, Tep Rindaro continued acting in more films and karaoke videos, and was offered a role in some Norodom Sihanouk productions, like a comedy film Lon Nol Lon Non Lonnoliens, and dramas Arsina, Le Cid Khmer and La Chatelaine de Banareath. Since 2010, he starred in some Khmer Mekong Films TV series, such as AirWaves, Beauty of Life, and My Family My Heart.

Personal life

Tep Rindaro got married in 1987, a marriage arranged by parents of both sides. They got one daughter, but the relationship lasted for only one year, before the couple got divorced in 1988. Shortly after that, his ex-wife with the daughter left Cambodia, and are now living abroad. He never got married again, but he has been taking care of two children of his deceased sister.

Awards

In 2005, he was awarded with a Certificate of Appreciation from Princess Bopha Devi on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and also received Royal Officer rank called Sina. Later, he was promoted by the King Norodom Sihamoni to a higher rank of Sina Mony Sophon. In 2012, he acquired Empire of Star Award.

Other activities

He is the owner of a coffee bar in town of Siem Reap in western Cambodia.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tep_Rindaro

Happy Khmer New Year

Cambodian New Year (Khmer: បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី) or Chaul Chnam Thmey in the Khmer language, literally "Enter New Year", is the name of the Cambodian holiday that celebrates the New Year. The holiday lasts for three days beginning on New Year's Day, which usually falls on April 13 or 14th, which is the end of the harvesting season, when farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor before the rainy season begins. Khmers living abroad may choose to celebrate during a weekend rather than just specifically April 13 through 15th. The Khmer New Year coincides with the traditional solar new year in several parts of India, Sri Lanka, Puthandu, Myanmar and Thailand.

Here are some Khmer New Year Song 2015: