Cambodia Picks Polen Ly's Debut Feature 'Becoming Human' for Oscar Submission
Cambodia has selected "Becoming Human," the debut feature film from director Polen Ly, as its official submission for the international feature film category at the 99th Academy Awards, Variety reported on 25 August 2026.
The film opens in Cambodian cinemas nationwide on 27 August, two days after the announcement. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for 14 March 2027, with the international feature shortlist of 15 films due to be revealed on 15 December and submissions required by 30 September, Deadline reported.
"Becoming Human" follows an abandoned cinema's former spirit guardian as she wanders through rapidly transformed landscapes to reach her rebirth, according to the synopsis from sales agent Lights On. The 99-minute film was developed as part of the Biennale College Cinema initiative's 13th edition, run by La Biennale di Venezia with backing from Italy's General Directorate Cinema and additional support from Chanel, Variety reported.
Ly's work has centred on indigenous rights and environmental issues in Cambodia, according to the Singapore International Film Festival. His 2022 short film "Further and Further Away" and his debut documentary feature "Until the Orchid Blooms," which premiered at IDFA in 2024 and won the grand prize at the Taiwan International Documentary Festival in 2026, established him as a distinctive voice in Southeast Asian cinema before he turned to his first narrative feature.
The film carries a strong creative pedigree from the region. Piseth Chhun, who won the Venice Horizons award for best actor in 2021 for his role in Kavich Neang's "White Building," stars alongside 15-year-old newcomer and dance student Savorn Serak. Son Doan, cinematographer on Truong Minh Quy's "Viet and Nam," shot the film, and Kavich Neang edited it. Post-production sound and score recording were completed at Kongchak Studio in Phnom Penh.
Daniel Mattes produced through his Cambodia-based banner Anti-Archive. Singapore's Minri Media served as executive producer, with Kongchak Pictures of Cambodia and Singapore's Momo Film Co as associate producers. Lights On is handling world sales.
"Becoming Human" premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2025 and has since screened at Busan, BFI London, Taipei Golden Horse, Seattle and Shanghai. It won both the audience award and the top prize, the Golden Hanoman, at the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival in Indonesia. Chhun also picked up a lead-acting honour for the film at Rome's Asian Film Festival.
Cambodia has submitted films for the international feature film category since 1994. Rithy Panh's "The Missing Picture" earned the country's only Academy Award nomination in 2013. Davy Chou's "Return to Seoul" reached the shortlist in 2022. COSC founder Mariam Arthur noted that there are typically only one or two eligible Cambodian films each year, with "Far Away, Close to You" by Mony Kann Darung, "Banh" by Bou Panha, "The Old Man" by Chap Somchanrith, and "Me and My Brother" by Kou Darachan cited as other notable eligible titles this cycle.
Ly has spoken about the destruction of Cambodia's cinemas amid rapid development, a theme that threads through "Becoming Human." The selection sends a film about vanishing cinema spaces onto the world's most visible awards stage.
