Submarine Channel

Helmed by Rithy Panh, one of the most acclaimed documentary filmmakers worldwide, Amrita – The Nectar of Immortality is a luxurious visual fable in virtual reality that is currently in development. The VR experience will transport you to the magnificent Angkor Vat temple complex in Cambodia, where traditional Khmer dancers will reenact the epic battles between gods and demons that happened at the dawn of time according to Cambodian mythology.

Traditional Khmer dancers will perform ancient dances in a section of magnificent Angkor Vat temple that is not accessible to visitors.

Rithy Panh will weave subtle lines between the old mythical tales and the scars from the horrors of the devastating modern wars in todays Cambodia. The powerful setting will provide the immersive 360° frame for a striking visual journey into how destructive memories might heal through a reflection on the very essence of time itself.

The Khmer dancers have given us all that antiquity could contain for it is impossible to take divine art any higher… It is impossible to see human nature brought to higher perfection.
We have only them and the Greeks.
Auguste Rodin

Rithy Pahn
A leading figure in Cambodian and international cinema, Rithy Pahn’s films predominantly focus on the aftermath of the genocidal Kmher Rouge regime in Cambodia. Among his work, we find documentaries such as The Missing Picture  which won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards. 

Amrita will be the first VR project for the Cambodian director, who declared that he is aware of the technical difficulties involved. “I’m looking forward to expanding my point of view as a director by fully exploiting the new cognitive possibilities the technology offers. Through it, I hope to explore new possibilities for filmmaking, just as the pioneers of cinema experimented with the first cameras.”

The producers
Amrita is produced by Catherine Dussart of CDP (France) and co-produced by Submarine Channel (The Netherlands), INVR Space (Germany), and Anupheap (Cambodia).

Amrita is one of our projects that is selected for the Cinemart/VR Days pitch program of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (24 January – 4 February, 2018).

360° shooting will give viewers the sensation of dancing alongside the Apasaras, of exploring at the temple galleries at leisure, and of consorting with the gods and demons at the site at Angkor.
Rhiti Pahn