Uniterrupted artistic freedom still not a reality in Cambodia,

Cambodian film-maker praCh Ly Friday said uninterrupted artistic freedom in his country is still not a reality and people from the creative field are punished if they make anything critical of the government.

Ly, who is currently based in the United States and also a well-known rapper, expressed his desire to go back to his home country.

"Artistic freedom has improved a little bit since Khmer Rouge days. But it is definitely not in terms of full artistic freedom. I was banned to go back to Cambodia for few years as I had said few things through my music also," Ly said.

Addressing a press conference after the India premiere of his latest movie 'In the Life of Music' at the ongoing 2nd Guwahati International Film Festival (GIFF), the musician-film-maker said lot of censorship still exists in Cambodia.

"People are exiled and jailed if you do anything critical of the ruler. It is due to power grab at the top. When we have the prime minister for over 30 years, he does not like if anyone criticises him," Ly said.

Following the Khmer Rouge period, many people had left Cambodia including him, Ly said.

In the four years that the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia (1975-79), it was responsible for one of the worst mass killings that claimed the lives of up to two million people.

"I am from generation 1.5 (a term used to describe people who arrived in the US as children and adolescents). We were born in Cambodia but raised somewhere else. I was brought up in the US. I am looking forward to go back to Cambodia," Ly said.

When asked on a lighter note if he is more popular than Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in his home nation, the film-maker said: "I will say no because I will be in problem otherwise. I do not like politics. I just want to make music and movies. I want to show them to the world".

'In the Life of Music' is an inter-generational tale that explores love, war and a family's relationship to 'Champa Battambang' -- a song made famous by Sinn Sisamouth.

In the film, jointly produced by Ly, Neardey Trinh and Caylee So explored three different decades and depicted the lives of people, whose world was inevitably transformed by the emergence of the Khmer Rouge regime.

This year, the ASEAN is the focus region of the 2nd GIFF with 14 films from 10 countries of the region are being shown. The segment began with showing of 'In the Life of Music', directed by Caylee So and Sok Visal.

The Assam government-owned Jyoti Chitraban (Film Studio) Society is the organiser of the festival, which will be held from October 25 to 31, in association with Dr Bhupen Hazarika Regional Government Film and Television Institute.