Documentation Centre of Cambodia to Screen "Jungle Guard", 20 May, 2019
11/05/19 16:17

Phnom Penh (FN), May 10 - Everyone is invited to the screening of a unique documentary film about how a Buddhist Monk became Cambodia’s Forest Preservation Guardian and is inspiring millions worldwide.

On 20 May 2019 at 3:00 p.m., the Documentation Centre of Cambodia will screen Jungle Guard at the National Institute of Education.

Monks, students, university lecturers, diplomats, journalists, and the public are cordially invited to this screening. Jungle Guard Executive Producer Youk Chhang and Director Makara Ouch will join the Venerable Bun Saluth, the new national hero of Cambodian forest preservation, to engage the audience in discussion and respond to questions at the conclusion of the screening. There is no charge for admission.

Jungle Guard portrays how Monk Bun Saluth singlehandedly organized a campaign to protect a forest and its wildlife in Anlong Veng District from timber thieves, wildlife and marine life poachers, and illegal mining interests. He has persisted notwithstanding threats and intimidation, recruiting fellow monks and leaving behind the comfort of his pagoda to live fulltime in the forest. He disavows the use of weapons or threats against these illegal enterprises, relying instead on his extraordinary powers of persuasion and local authorities. News of his efforts reached the Prime Minister who officially conferred on this special monk an official mandate to protect this northern Cambodian forest and provided him with government resources to patrol it.

The film portrays Monk Bun Saluth as a leadership role model not only for Buddhist monks but for other representatives of religious orders to actively engage in protecting and preserving our precious and threatened natural world.

Jungle Guard portrays the inspiring life of a Buddhist monk community that has voluntarily assumed the role of protector and guardian of our natural habitat. It is a model that now is being replicated in other parts of the world.

In the documentary, Venerable Bun Saluth describes why he chose to become a forest guardian and how the principles of Buddhism support environmental protection. The area of his guardianship now extends to 30,254 hectares.

The forest, known as the Monk Commune Forest, is located in Anlong Veng district, the last stronghold of Khmer Rouge rebel army and its surviving leaders, in Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province.
=FRESH NEWS

Hail, Venerable Bun Saluth. Never underestimate the power of the activist robes in Cambodia.
They bring legitimacy and hope to those poor and dispossessed who want to speak out.

It is reassuring that this screening is under the umbrella of the DC Cambodia. That offers real protection.

Swedish Ambassador attended first screening of “Jungle Guard”
by Nilobon Bantoey • May 21, 2019 •
Maria Sargren, Ambassador of Sweden to Cambodia visited the premiere screening of the documentary film “Jungle Guard” taking place on Monday, May 20 2019 at Wat Langka, a temple locating in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Apart from the Swedish Ambassador, the participants at the event included monks, students, university lecturers, diplomats and journalists.

In the association with the Swedish Embassy’s partner Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), “Jungle Guard” was produced by Phnom Penh-based Sleuk Rith Motion Picture and directed by Makara Ouch, a Cambodian filmmaker and photographer who has produced several short movies, feature films and also critically-acclaimed documentaries.

A movement camera and drone were the cinematic techniques that Makara used most in his films to capture the natural beauty of Cambodia’s forest and its fertile resource as well as to portray the daily life of Cambodians in small cities.

The reason that the premiere screening of “Jungle Guard” was held in the temple was because it narrated the story of Monk Bun Saluth who created a campaign to protect a forest and its wildlife in Anlong Veng District from timber and wildlife thieves and illegal mining interests.

The documentary not only portrayed the life of an individual monk but also presented the inspiring life of a Buddhist monk community that has voluntarily took the role of protector and guardian of our natural habitat.
https://scandasia.com/swedish-ambassado ... gle-guard/

The Monks Community Forest — a battlefield jungle turned nature preserve
Story told in a film released Monday to mark Remembrance Day.
By Michelle Vachon -
May 27, 2019

The documentary film “Jungle Guard” of director Makara Ouch starts with scenes that reflect what was normalcy in the jungle along the Thai-Cambodian border—Khmer Rouge soldiers battling Cambodian government forces—until the last Khmer Rouge leaders surrendered in 1998.

As the text reads at the beginning of the film, this is a “story from the Khmer Rouge last stronghold,” taking place in Oddar Meanchey province’s Along Veng district.

But the film quickly shifts to the present—and also the future—with the story of a Cambodian Buddhist monk who has worked ever since the Khmer Rouge left the area to ensure that the jungle remains a jungle.

For the remainder of the 57-minute documentary, the viewer will hear Venerable Bun Saluth explain this and his own journey as if he was talking to a friend; tour the preserve with him; get a glimpse of the beautiful birds and animals he is determined to protect; watch illegal fishing equipment being removed; and through aerial images, grasp the beauty and extent of this forest and why it should be protected. All this unrolling on the sounds of intimate music that communicates the magic of the preserve.

Presented on May 20 at the Wat Langka pagoda in Phnom Penh to mark Cambodia’s Remembrance Day, the 57-minute documentary will be shown later on in the country.
Full article: https://www.cambodiadaily.com/environme ... ve-149563/

Protecting the last of Cambodia's forests: There will be a free screening of the Cambodian documentary "Jungle Guard" on 15 september 2019 in Siem Reap.




From above article:

Jungle Guard portrays how Monk Bun Saluth singlehandedly organized a campaign to protect a forest and its wildlife in Anlong Veng District from timber thieves, wildlife and marine life poachers, and illegal mining interests. He has persisted notwithstanding threats and intimidation, recruiting fellow monks and leaving behind the comfort of his pagoda to live fulltime in the forest. He disavows the use of weapons or threats against these illegal enterprises, relying instead on his extraordinary powers of persuasion and local authorities. News of his efforts reached the Prime Minister who officially conferred on this special monk an official mandate to protect this northern Cambodian forest and provided him with government resources to patrol it.