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From local independent productions to Hollywood blockbusters, all films screened legally in the Kingdom are subject to government censorship. But what are the boundaries?

While Rithy Panh will be the first Cambodian director to walk down the Oscars red carpet next month, many filmmakers at home are faced with a stickier path: through a good deal of red tape. Some directors report no problems while others have had their releases delayed indefinitely, but one thing is for certain: no film can be shown in Cambodias cinemas unless the government says so.

Under Cambodian law, every feature film released in the Kingdom must be approved by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts film censorship board. Such scrutiny is normal in the region, with every ASEAN state exercising direct film censorship to some degree, while government censorship in Western nations is usually only reserved for cases of extreme obscenity, such as depictions of pedophilia, bestiality or real-life violence.

For local productions in Cambodia, scripts must also be submitted prior to filming. If the film is rejected at either stage, it cannot be legally screened in Cambodia. Cambodian film censors have most recently held up the release of Martin Scorseses The Wolf of Wall Street starring Leonardo Dicaprio, which contains graphic sex scenes, drug use and more than 500 uses of the word f***.

Chhay Bora has directed two movies since becoming a filmmaker in 2010. PHOTO SUPPLIED

But filmmaker Chhay Bora, who directed the yet-to-be released 3.50, said that the censorship board has never explained to him their grounds for evaluating movies.

Its like walking in the jungle with no road map to follow, said Bora, whose film on sex trafficking was supposed to be released last October but never received final approval. Although his script was approved, Bora said that the censorship board has failed to reach a verdict on the final version. No specific cuts have been ordered by the ministry, he said, but feedback he received suggested that censorship board members were concerned about the movies heavy social commentary.

The Ministry of Culture film department said they didnt ban the film, but they didnt grant the licence yet, said Bora, adding that although the films dialogue did not seem to cause controversy, the censorship board expressed concern over not less than 10 shots. Some of the criticism, Bora said, was over shots that the board claimed represented Cambodia in a bad light, such as a taxi driver throwing a cigarette out the window and a scene within the impoverished White Building community on Sothearos Boulevard.

Bora also said that other scenes were too political for the censors comfort, such as a shot of a character walking down a dusty road with Prime Minister Hun Sens office visible in the background.

But it is not just edgy, socially provocative films that are sent to the censors. Sok Visal, whose debut feature film Gems on the Run premiered last December, said that the censorship board was never hostile to his project but expected a clean moral message for his family-friendly comedy, which involves two friends transporting $3 million of stolen gems. Since the plot features a police officer working with criminals, Visal made sure his script approached the subject with care.

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Industry insiders discuss censorship in the cinema