White Building

Inside Phnom Penh’s landmark tenement nicknamed the White Building, 18-year-old Samnang (Sam) and two friends, Tol and Ah Kha, dream their dance routine can reach the stage of a television talent contest. Their youthful habits are upended, however, when Ah Kha reveals he will leave Cambodia. Months later, the White Building is less busy. Sam’s mother feels resentful that Sam’s sister, Samphors, has moved out of the family home to live independently. Sam’s neighbors debate the compensation offers for residents to move out due to the building’s impending demolition, but Sam increasingly worries about his father’s worsening health. Sam’s father neglects a worsening leg infection while unsuccessfully attempting to bring together a divided community traumatized by a painful collective history. As Sam’s own nightmares converge with the deep fears shared within this diminishing urban community, Sam begins to understand that the stable environment he has always called home is on shaky ground.