Jungle Guard is a documentary film that portrays the life of a unique Buddhist monk community and its indigenous wildlife, fish and related resources, the forest, known as the Monk Commune Forest, is located in Anlong Veng district, the last stronghold of the Khmer Rouge rebel army and its surviving leaders, in Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province.

Venerable Bun Saluth, founder of the Monk Commune Forest and film protagonist, founded the forest with a former Khmer Rouge soldier and friend after the monk expressed his dream to protect the environment. This forest was a battlefield between the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian Government until a peace agreement for Anlong Veng was reached in late 1998. The friend urged the monk to act on his dream to protect and conserve the forest. Attracted to the forest and its rich animals and other resources that were under threat, venerable Bun Saluth committed his life’s work to protect and preserve it.

About filmmaker

Ouch Makara is an independent filmmaker in Cambodia. He worked for the Khmer Mekong Films from 2006-2013. He made his own film with his colleagues entitled “A Senior’s Love”, production of which was completed in 2012. The feature was screened at that year’s Cambodia International Film Festival and received critical acclaim. Makara joined the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) as Film Director and Producer in late 2013. At DC-Cam, He has produced and directed several documentary films, such as “Anlong Veng”, “The Kingdom of Memory”, “Hope for the Future”, “Integrity”, “The Long Road to Education”; and a social spot “Sidewalk”, commissioned by Blue Media Cambodia and Phnom Penh City Hall. Most recently, he directed and produced a series of documentaries entitled “Village History”, "Pol Pot Home", and Genocide Education in Cambodia for DC-Cam which is screened Cambodian high schools. Makara was selected to be a photographer to photograph His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni, the King of Cambodia, and the Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk and all the Royal family for a book “ The Royal House of Cambodia”.

Makara completed his film training in South Korea, Thailand, and Japan in the FilmLeader Incubator (FLY) Program and completed a regional US-ASEAN film workshop of YSEALI program in Luang Prabang in 2017. Makara was awarded one of the 12 fellowships in a global competition sponsored by the University of Southern California to study film in the “American Film Showcase” program in School of Cinematic Arts in 2018.