Film
Angkor's Children
Angkor's Children is a 2015 documentary by Lauren Shaw about three young Cambodian women and the revival of the arts in Cambodia.[1][2] A singer, a contortionist and the leader of a protest band each break from traditional roles through their art.[3]
Synopsis
The three women belong to the first generation born after the Khmer Rouge genocide, which the film says killed two million people between 1975 and 1979, including 90 percent of the country's artists and intellectuals.[1][3] Sreypov sings smot, chanted Buddhist poetry. Phunam Pin is a circus artist and contortionist. The third story follows Messenger Band, a grassroots protest band formed by former garment workers.[4][2][3]
Their stories cross and overlap against a background of poverty, uneven development and memories of the genocide.[3] The women push back against a cultural view that a woman is like white cloth, which once soiled can never be washed clean, while a man is like gold, which stays bright.[3] The film shows art as a way for young people to gain power where freedom of expression is limited, and it follows the women's hardships and achievements as they help rebuild the national culture.[3][2] Their adult teachers also appear, and both generations see the arts as a way out of despair.[5]
Production and credits
The film was Lauren Shaw's first as director.[5] Mimi Edmunds wrote it, and Great Pond Productions produced it.[6] Its countries of origin are the United States, France and Cambodia, and it runs 60 minutes in English and Khmer.[6][3]
Release and reception
The film was released in the United States on April 24, 2015.[6][3] That year it competed among the documentary features at the Woods Hole Film Festival and was an official selection of the 2015 Cambodia Town Film Festival in Long Beach, California.[4][3]
In The Hollywood Reporter, John Defore wrote that the film acknowledges the suffering of the Khmer Rouge years while focusing on hope in the arts. He found it inspiring without being manipulative and expected it to do well on the festival circuit.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lauren Shaw, Films
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Phare, The Cambodian Circus, Angkor's Children Documentary (November 7, 2020)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Cambodia Town Film Festival, CTFF 2015 Official Selection: Angkor's Children (archived)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Woods Hole Film Festival, 2015 Documentary Feature Films in Competition
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Angkor's Children, official website
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 IMDb, Angkor's Children (2015)