Article on Film about Smot

My friend Neang Kavich has produced a short film on smot that has already shown in Cambodia. Here's a link to an article about it in the Phnom Penh Post:

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010022432594/Lifestyle/filmmaker-overcomes-childhood-fear-to-document-eerie-khmer-funerary-chanting.html

While he was making the film, Kavich asked me two questions: What is smot and why it is important? I responded in brief:

Smot is a style of sung recitation of poetry and prose in Khmer and Pali with complex and expressive melodies. Smot is closely associated with Buddhist rituals, including funerals, but may be used in a wide variety of sacred and secular settings.

Smot is important because it is a uniquely Cambodian vocal style with a long cultural history, tremendous emotional force and rich musical complexity. The tradition may lose its relevance in the coming decades if the next generation does not take interest in it and make it their own.

I would add that smot also often serves as a colloquial name to refer to the Dharma song genre; i.e. not merely a vocal style but also a textual genre.