founding president of the san joaquin film society
creator of the san joaquin international film festival
Sophoan Sorn, is a multi-faceted, Cambodian-American artist and cultural entrepreneur in festival programming, documentary filmmaking, the visual arts, and contemporary piano performance. He was born on the border of Cambodia in a refugee camp in 1985. He arrived in the United States of America in 1991. After being self-taught for one year, he began classical piano training at the age of 11. A Lodi Seventh-day Adventist Academy Class of 2003 alumnus, he has studied at San Joaquin Delta College, and currently studies motion picture and television (focused in cinematography) at Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
A community advocate, he is active in various community projects and organizations. In 2005, he founded Stockton Crossing Cultural Bridge (SCCB) project, and gained multi-facted support of various community people and organizations. In 2007, the San Joaquin Cross-Cultural Media (SJCCM) project was created to foster the creation of the San Joaquin International Film Festival, the Central Valley's premier celebration of global cinema. In 2008, with an endeavor to carry on the San Joaquin International Film Festival as an annual tradition, to help raise the cultural and global profile of San Joaquin, and to foster the arts through a diverse year-round program - Sophoan founded the San Joaquin Film Society.
He hopes that through the efforts and programs of the San Joaquin Film Society, he would be able to promote film art and cultural appreciation, locally and globally. Because of this, in addition to the annual run of SJIFF, he hopes to launch the Society in a bold way by introducing a diverse year-round program in 2009, which will include the San Joaquin Children's Film Festival (January 16 to 18, 2009), the California International Documentary Film Festival (December 12 to 17, 2009), a global cinema series, special screenings of unique films, gala events, and active collaborations with other arts and cultural organizations locally and globally. An educational component of SJFS is the Youth Video Vision (YVV) program, which he and fellow filmmakers, instructs and mentors young, aspiring artists. Two YVV films from the SJCCM project premiered at the SJIFF08.
He serves on the boards of: Sister Cities International - Northern California Chapter, in support of global citizen diplomacy; and Stockton Arts Center Alliance - a new organization with a mission "to promote and support arts organizations and cultural activities in our City through the development of a cultural, visual, and performing arts center" - in which SJFS, is one of six pioneer, member organizations.
Active in business in the last six years, he owns Sophoan Sorn Productions, a diverse business servicing a broad clientele with visual arts; fine arts; multimedia creations; and marketing consulting and solutions.
He is a recipient of the 2005 and the 2007 Stockton Arts Commission Endowment for the Arts Awards (grants). He served as a photographer for “Stockton Speaks” oral history project (2004), and his local documentaries include “To: Iloilo and Battambang” (2006); and currently dabbles in directing many documentary short films and biographical profiles.
His hobbies and enjoyment include travel, gardening, running, journalism, music improvisation, hiking, meeting people, and time with his family. In the future, he hopes to attain a PhD in Film and to work in mainstream film and television as a director and a director of photography.
