Sophoan Sorn is a Cambodia-born, American film festival director and programmer of international films.
At 26, he is one of the youngest festival directors in the world of European cinema today.

He is the director of San Francisco's Berlin & Beyond Film Festival, a presentation of the Goethe-Institut, the official German cultural center of the Federal Republic of Germany. Berlin & Beyond is America's largest festival of films from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and beyond - held annually at the world-famous Castro Theatre since 1996. His directorship began in 2010, culminating in two successful festivals, attracting thousands of people in attendance and many visiting directors, actors and film luminaries from Europe. The upcoming 17th Edition in September 2012 remains with him for the third year at the helm.

A miracle child, he was born in 1985, two weeks after his mother’s water broke, in a refugee camp on the border of Cambodia. He arrived in the United States of America in 1991 with his family. He began classical piano studies at age 11, and making videos since he was 16. An honor graduate of Lodi Seventh-day Adventist Academy Class of 2003, he has been studying Film, Television and Media at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

Fresh out of high school from 2003 through 2010, while based in Stockton, California - he was proactive in the Central Valley's art scene. In 2008, he founded the San Joaquin International Film Festival and its year-round organization - the San Joaquin Film Society. His collaborative spirit, innovative leadership and steadfast advocacy supported the growing culture of the San Joaquin region and brought films and filmmakers from over 30 countries to the region. Other successful programs in Stockton included the San Joaquin Children's Film Festival in 2009, and eight years of collaboration with the acclaimed University of the Pacific.

He will be directing the 5th Anniversary of the San Joaquin International Film Festival, January 12th-15th, 2012 in Stockton.

Sophoan has been featured and highlighted locally, nationally and internationally in Twitch, KQED Arts, NPR Capital Public Radio, Cinesource, The Bay Citizen, San Francisco Bay Times, Sacramento and Company, ABC News10, San Joaquin Magazine, Stockton's The Record, Focus Features Film Week, KWIN 97.7, MUBI, Germany's international Deutsche Welle - and in unique literature as Carl Wilson's best-selling music book "Let's Talk About Love: Journey to the End of Taste."

Sophoan's hobbies include traveling, writing, fashion, running, gardening, performing the piano, and spending time with family and friends.

The journey continues...


email: sophoan[dot]sorn[at]gmail[dot]com

Sophoan at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany in April 2011.

Speaking at the Opening of the 16th Berlin & Beyond Film Festival at the legendary Castro Theatre in San Francisco, October 2011.