Really great movie to learn more about the Cambodian genocide, found this movie while searching for Cambodian cinema and I didn’t they had so few movies

Really great movie to learn more about the Cambodian genocide, found this movie while searching for Cambodian cinema and I didn’t they had so few movies

I first saw this when I was living in Austin, TX. It was playing at the Austin Film Society close to the studio where I worked, which made it easy to just pop in and watch stuff after work from time to time. At that time I was struggling with my animation career. The year before I was not getting the amount of work that would help me hone and develop my skills further and I was essentially relegated to responsibilities that were outside of my job description and took me away from working on animation itself. This year there was immense crunch and while that did mean more actual animation work for me, that also meant longer, more grueling hours. I was beginning to question if animation was worth it. 

Funan made it worth it.

Animation provides a certain level of control over the final product that you wouldn’t get with live action. There are a lot of variables that are hard to control with live action, working with sets and props and actors. Dennis Do, the director, asserts that control to tell an incredibly personal story in a way that only animation can handle. The beautiful landscapes contrast with the horrors of what is happening in disturbing ways. The horrors of the regime are able to be presented as the horrors that they are without turning into a strangely voyeuristic look at extreme suffering. Do and his animation team explore the political upheaval and the abuses thereof with extreme care and respect, connecting past to present.

I first saw this when I was living in Austin, TX. It was playing at the Austin Film Society close to the studio where I worked, which made it easy to just pop in and watch stuff after work from time to time. At that time I was struggling with my animation career. The year before I was not getting the amount of work that would help me hone and develop my skills further and I was essentially relegated to responsibilities that were outside of my job description and took me away from working on animation itself. This year there was immense crunch and while that did mean more actual animation work for me, that also meant longer, more grueling hours. I was beginning to question if animation was worth it. 

Funan made it worth it.

Animation provides a certain level of control over the final product that you wouldn’t get with live action. There are a lot of variables that are hard to control with live action, working with sets and props and actors. Dennis Do, the director, asserts that control to tell an incredibly personal story in a way that only animation can handle. The beautiful landscapes contrast with the horrors of what is happening in disturbing ways. The horrors of the regime are able to be presented as the horrors that they are without turning into a strangely voyeuristic look at extreme suffering. Do and his animation team explore the political upheaval and the abuses thereof with extreme care and respect, connecting past to present.

I FIRGOT TO LOG IT TWO DAYS AGO

I FIRGOT TO LOG IT TWO DAYS AGO

Funan, the names of first Khmer monarchy in the region. but the movie is about the worst Khmer generation

A beautiful animation with a tragic story for Cambodian based on true period

It really hurts to watch this film that shows me life under the Khmer Rouge, I wasn't born there, but I do know that it was the worst generation ever for Cambodia. The word "Angkor" is used to control everything. At first, it's just for Justice and Equality, it's good for the first place, no matter who you are or you have everything. Is equal, no money, no sales.

But it's all their plans, things get worse. Everyone is forced to work in the sun, rain, no time to rest, you must work, even the sick, the whole day of all that hardwork they give only a spoon of rice, some die while working, some get killed during working, some kill insects to eat because they're not eat enough, I still remember the words that Angkor said "ទុកមិនចំណេញ ដកចេញក៏មិនខាត" or means that if you're not useful doesn't give anything to Angkar, you're better got killed, and many people die because of the word, children born during this period, they will be killed by Angkar automatically, children ages 7-15 are taught to carry guns and shoot people, including killing their own parents, smart people and genius peopl got killed, including monks.

There's no freedom under the Khmer Rouge, no one could escape, and it killed between 1.7 million and 3 million Cambodians. It is a big problem for Cambodia that can not grow, and it is the reason why Cambodia is falling so badly. Older survivors of the Khmer Rouge are still wounded, fearing the shock of hearing the word 'Angkar', it is most tragic. But the new generation is making joke about the Khmer Rouge and taking Pol Pot (the Khmer Rouge leader) as their favorite idol. It hurts when I see my country collapsing and thinking about the suffering of the Khmer Rouge, I wish I could help, Samdech Hun Sen is the savior of Cambodia, he's the one who saved Khmer people from Khmer Rouge, but today's youth hate Samdech because he has been the Prime Minister for too long, kid nowadays day🤦. There's no ending, if I talk about the Khmer Rouge, I can't explain all of the things during Khmer Rouge and the film is talking about Sovann's family but it can shows us some of Khmer Rouge also, I only can said that it really really hurts ...

Funan, the names of first Khmer monarchy in the region. but the movie is about the worst Khmer generation

A beautiful animation with a tragic story for Cambodian based on true period

It really hurts to watch this film that shows me life under the Khmer Rouge, I wasn't born there, but I do know that it was the worst generation ever for Cambodia. The word "Angkor" is used to control everything. At first, it's just for Justice and Equality, it's good for the first place, no matter who you are or you have everything. Is equal, no money, no sales.

But it's all their plans, things get worse. Everyone is forced to work in the sun, rain, no time to rest, you must work, even the sick, the whole day of all that hardwork they give only a spoon of rice, some die while working, some get killed during working, some kill insects to eat because they're not eat enough, I still remember the words that Angkor said "ទុកមិនចំណេញ ដកចេញក៏មិនខាត" or means that if you're not useful doesn't give anything to Angkar, you're better got killed, and many people die because of the word, children born during this period, they will be killed by Angkar automatically, children ages 7-15 are taught to carry guns and shoot people, including killing their own parents, smart people and genius peopl got killed, including monks.

There's no freedom under the Khmer Rouge, no one could escape, and it killed between 1.7 million and 3 million Cambodians. It is a big problem for Cambodia that can not grow, and it is the reason why Cambodia is falling so badly. Older survivors of the Khmer Rouge are still wounded, fearing the shock of hearing the word 'Angkar', it is most tragic. But the new generation is making joke about the Khmer Rouge and taking Pol Pot (the Khmer Rouge leader) as their favorite idol. It hurts when I see my country collapsing and thinking about the suffering of the Khmer Rouge, I wish I could help, Samdech Hun Sen is the savior of Cambodia, he's the one who saved Khmer people from Khmer Rouge, but today's youth hate Samdech because he has been the Prime Minister for too long, kid nowadays day🤦. There's no ending, if I talk about the Khmer Rouge, I can't explain all of the things during Khmer Rouge and the film is talking about Sovann's family but it can shows us some of Khmer Rouge also, I only can said that it really really hurts ...

ALL THE COUNTRIES! - Camboya (🇰🇭)

Empiezo mi intento de ver una película por cada país del mundo, y sorpresa! no he visto nada de Camboya 😯.

Me da mucha rabia que pasen tan desapercibidas este tipo de producciones. Un rayo de realidad y un gran ejemplo de que la animación no es solo para niños. Aunque no cuente nada nuevo, te parte el corazón.

ALL THE COUNTRIES! - Camboya (🇰🇭)

Empiezo mi intento de ver una película por cada país del mundo, y sorpresa! no he visto nada de Camboya 😯.

Me da mucha rabia que pasen tan desapercibidas este tipo de producciones. Un rayo de realidad y un gran ejemplo de que la animación no es solo para niños. Aunque no cuente nada nuevo, te parte el corazón.