Sound Designer — Re-recording Mixer — Dolby Atmos

Vincent
Villa

Sound designer and re-recording mixer for feature films, Dolby Atmos specialist, based between Normandy, France and Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

For fifteen years, shaping the sound of Asian independent cinema — from Cannes to Sundance. Sound that does more than accompany the image: it precedes it, exceeds it, haunts it.

( listen )

2026One season

A year like no other

JanuaryFilipiñana wins at Sundancedir. Rafael Manuel — Special Jury Award for Creative Vision · Grand Jury Prize, IFFBoston · Golden Gate Award, SFFILM
FebruaryTwo films at the BerlinaleFilipiñana (dir. Rafael Manuel) · Incident on the Mountain (dir. Savunthara Seng — Berlinale Shorts)
AugustTwo films in Competition at LocarnoHearing (dir. Lê Bảo) · The House on the Moon (dir. Nelson Yeo, with Lee Kang-sheng) — world premieres, International Competition
AugustUS theatrical releaseFilipiñana (dir. Rafael Manuel) — released by Kino Lorber, from New York
SeptFour official Oscar entries, four countriesBecoming Human (dir. Polen Ly) for Cambodia · Filipiñana (dir. Rafael Manuel) for the Philippines · Four Seasons in Java (dir. Kamila Andini) for Indonesia · The Fox King (dir. Woo Ming Jin) for Malaysia — Best International Feature, 99th Academy Awards. All four mixed in Dolby Atmos at Kongchak Studio, Phnom Penh.
SeptemberWorld premiere at TIFFFour Seasons in Java (dir. Kamila Andini) — Centrepiece programme, Toronto
OctoberFour films at BusanHearing · Filipiñana · Four Seasons in Java — A Window on Asian Cinema · Zogsool (dir. Sakhya Byamba) — Vision Asia
Oct 29Worldwide on NetflixBalaraw: Blood Island (dir. Rae Red) — the first globally distributed Netflix Philippines Original Series
01Profile

Making the invisible audible

Vincent Villa is a French sound designer and re-recording mixer based between Normandy and Phnom Penh. Over fifteen years, he has become one of the most distinctive voices in international independent cinema — a creative collaborator who shapes the dramaturgy of a film from script to final mix.

His collaborators include Davy Chou, Lê Bảo, Trương Minh Quý, Kavich Neang, Boo Junfeng, Bradley Liew, Kamila Andini and Rafael Manuel — directors whose films have screened at Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance, Locarno, Rotterdam, Busan, Tokyo, Singapore, Toronto and San Sebastián.

In 2019 he co-founded Kongchak Studio in Phnom Penh — Cambodia's first professional sound post-production studio and its first Dolby Atmos mixing facility.

Locarno 2026
Two films in International Competition — The House on the Moon · Hearing
Recognition
Two consecutive Asian Film Awards nominations — Best Sound (2023 · 2025)
Festivals
Cannes · Berlinale · Venice · Sundance · Locarno · Rotterdam · Busan · Tokyo · Singapore · TIFF · San Sebastián
US Distribution
Sony Pictures Classics · Kino Lorber · Netflix
Studio
Kongchak Studio, Phnom Penh — first Dolby Atmos facility in Cambodia
0Years in
Asian cinema
0Feature
films
0AFA nominations
Best Sound
0Films at
Busan 2026
0Official Oscar entries
four countries
"When a sound can replace an image, remove the image. The ear goes in, the eye goes out."
Robert Bresson — Notes on the Cinematographer
02Approach

Sound as dramaturgy

I.

It precedes the image

Sound design begins at the script, not in post-production. Every location has an acoustic signature; every scene, a listening point. Working with directors from pre-production onward, sound becomes narrative architecture — able to create tension with the image, not merely support it.

II.

It maps the psyche

A soundtrack is a meta-language. It can stretch time, expose what images conceal, and place the audience physically inside a character's inner state. In Return to Seoul, sound charts an adoptee's displacement; in Guo Ran, it amplifies or muffles a mind under pressure.

III.

It makes the walls disappear

In Taste, a static shot of a hot-air balloon becomes a metaphor of exile — through a compressor breathing like a human being, waves, wind, silk. When sound replaces the image, the frame dissolves. The ear goes in; the eye goes out.

03Press

What the press has heard

Exquisite technical qualities — in particular, Vincent Villa's intricate sound design.
Variety — Hearing · Locarno 2026
Immersive, pinpoint sound design — some of the most affecting this year.
The Film Stage — Viet and Nam · Cannes 2024
Perfectly modulated — a symphony of room tone.
Variety — Taste · Berlinale 2021
An amalgamation of brilliant visual images, sound design and choreography.
Richard Lorber, Kino Lorber — Filipiñana · Sundance 2026
A major shoutout has to be given to Vincent Villa's sound design — the thwack of a golf club swung with high force, the echoing of voices inside spacious halls versus their bare tones lost outside in the wide-open space, the droning on of machinery that maintains the artifice — all the elements for a fully immersive journey into a twisted Wonderland are elevated thanks to the sound.
BusinessWorld — Filipiñana · US release 2026
French sound designer Vincent Villa creates an immersive soundscape that is never intrusive, but plays with sound levels to punctuate the elements of a scene or the mental state of the characters.
International Cinephile Society — Hearing · Locarno 2026
There's a kind of ASMR quality to Vincent Villa's sound design, which can turn the most unassuming noises into aural spells.
The Film Stage — Hearing · Locarno 2026
Vincent Villa's spellbinding sound score. A revelation.
La Septième Obsession — Viet and Nam
His crisp sound design either amplifies or muffles her state of mind as circumstances dictate.
Variety — Guo Ran · IFFR 2025
Made meditative and magical through textured sound design that celebrates the cinema sound systems.
IndieWire — Becoming Human · Venice 2025
Sound design deftly amplifies the film's dreamscape, expanding the maze of associations each image crackles with.
The Film Stage — Taste
His sound means we can hear the water even when we cannot see it, feel it when we can do both.
Eye for Film — Further and Further Away
Sound engineer Vincent Villa who unceasingly records the bustling clamour of contemporary Cambodia.
Libération — Portrait, 2023
04Selected credits

Fifteen years.
Eleven festivals.

2026The House on the Moon — Nelson YeoInternational Competition, Locarno · World premiere · with Lee Kang-sheng
2026Hearing — Lê BảoInternational Competition, Locarno · World premiere
2026Filipiñana — Rafael ManuelSpecial Jury Award for Creative Vision, Sundance · Grand Jury Prize, IFFBoston · Golden Gate Award, SFFILM · Kino Lorber
2026Four Seasons in Java — Kamila AndiniWorld Premiere, TIFF Centrepiece · sound design & Dolby Atmos mix
2026Another Green World — Wang KejingSpecial Jury Prize, Forward Future, Beijing IFF · New Filmmakers Competition, São Paulo
2025Becoming Human — Polen LyVenice — Biennale College Cinema
2025Guo Ran — Li DongmeiTiger Competition, IFFR Rotterdam
2025This City Is a Battlefield — Mouly SuryaClosing film, IFFR Rotterdam
2025The Fox King — Woo Ming JinMalaysia's official Oscar entry · Centrepiece, TIFF 50 · Window on Asian Cinema, Busan
2024Viet and Nam — Trương Minh QuýUn Certain Regard, Cannes · AFA nomination, Best Sound
2024Sunshine — Antoinette JadaoneCrystal Bear, Berlinale 2025 · Best Sound nomination, 49th Gawad Urian · TIFF · Netflix
2024Tale of the Land — Loeloe HendraFIPRESCI Award, New Currents, Busan
2023Last Shadow at First Light — N. M. WoodfordNew Directors, San Sebastián
2022Folklore S2: "Ayizah, Ayizah" — Bradley LiewHBO Asia / HBO Max — anthology by Eric Khoo
2022Return to Seoul — Davy ChouUn Certain Regard, Cannes · Cambodia's Oscar entry — Academy Awards shortlist · AFA nomination · Sony Pictures Classics
2021Taste (Vị) — Lê BảoSpecial Jury Award, Encounters, Berlinale
2021White Building — Kavich NeangOrizzonti, Venice · Cambodian Oscar entry
2020Fan Girl — Antoinette JadaoneBest Sound, Metro Manila Film Festival · Best Sound, Eddys Awards · Best Sound nomination, 44th Gawad Urian · Tokyo IFF
2019Last Night I Saw You Smiling — Kavich NeangDocumentary · NETPAC Award, IFFR Rotterdam
2019Motel Acacia — Bradley LiewAsian Future, Tokyo IFF · Gravitas Ventures (US)
2018D'un château l'autre — Emmanuel MarrePardino d'oro, Locarno
2017Le Film de l'été — Emmanuel MarrePrix Jean-Vigo · Grand Prix, Clermont-Ferrand
2016Diamond Island — Davy ChouCritics' Week, Cannes — SACD Prize · Grand Prix, Cabourg
2010Golden Slumbers — Davy ChouBusan IFF · Berlinale Forum

Long partnerships

Davy ChouFive films across fifteen years — from Golden Slumbers to Return to Seoul. A defining partnership of the Cambodian new wave.
Lê BảoTaste (Special Jury Award, Berlinale) → Hearing (International Competition, Locarno). Two films, one radical sonic language.
Bradley LiewFilm, series, and HBO — Motel Acacia (Tokyo IFF), The Tapes (Netflix), Folklore S2 (HBO Asia).
Danech SanThree award-winning shorts, now her debut feature To Leave, To Stay — entering post-production.
Kavich NeangFrom documentary (Last Night I Saw You Smiling, NETPAC Award) to fiction (White Building, Venice).
Antoinette JadaoneFan Girl (Best Sound, Metro Manila Film Festival & Eddys Awards) → Sunshine (Crystal Bear, Berlinale). Two Best Sound nominations at the Gawad Urian — the Filipino film critics — for Fan Girl (44th, 2021) and Sunshine (49th, 2026).
05Now

Current projects

Hearing

dir. Lê Bảo

International Competition, Locarno 2026 — A Window on Asian Cinema, Busan 2026

Filipiñana

dir. Rafael Manuel

The Philippines’ official Oscar entry — Best International Feature 2027 · US theatrical release, Kino Lorber · Busan 2026

Four Seasons in Java

dir. Kamila Andini

Indonesia’s official Oscar entry — Best International Feature 2027 · World Premiere, TIFF 2026 Centrepiece · Busan 2026

The Fox King

dir. Woo Ming Jin

Malaysia’s official Oscar entry — Best International Feature 2027 · Centrepiece, TIFF 50 · Window on Asian Cinema, Busan

The House on the Moon

dir. Nelson Yeo

International Competition — Locarno 2026

Becoming Human

dir. Polen Ly

Cambodia's official Oscar entry — Best International Feature 2027

Balaraw: Blood Island

dir. Rae Red

Netflix worldwide — Oct 29, 2026

Zogsool

dir. Sakhya Byamba

Vision — Asia, Busan 2026

Trinity

dir. Boo Junfeng

Feature — in post-production

To Leave, To Stay

dir. Danech San

Debut feature — entering post-production

06Studio

Kongchak Studio

Co-founded in Phnom Penh in 2019 with producer Loy Te, Kongchak Studio is Cambodia's first professional sound post-production studio — and the country's first facility equipped for Dolby Atmos mixing.

The studio has become a regional benchmark for immersive audio across Southeast Asian cinema, serving festival features and global platform originals alike. In 2026, four films mixed at Kongchak were selected as their countries' official entries for Best International Feature at the 99th Academy Awards — for Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.

From production sound strategy and sound writing at script stage, through design and editing, to final Dolby Atmos delivery for theatrical and streaming — the full chain, under one roof, between Phnom Penh and Paris.

kongchak.com →

07Contact

Get in touch

vincent@kongchak.com

Available for premium series and feature film projects — theatrical and streaming, worldwide. Representation inquiries welcome.