I saw this film on July 30, 2016 at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival. It won the award for best film there. Moore and the director, Kulikar Sotho, introduced it and held a Q&A after the showing. Though the screenplay is credited to Ian McMasters, the story is Sotho's. She revealed before the showing that, yes, the amazing characters are based on her and her mother's true-life experiences. The main character, a teenage girl, becomes friends with the projectionist at an abandoned movie house and discovers some interesting things that took place before she was born. It contains echoes of Cinema Paradiso, but I believe it is even better.
It takes place in modern-day Cambodia, but memories of the country's gloomy past are ever-present. The acting and the quality of filming are superb, while the crackling energy of modern-day Phnom Penh is expertly captured. Her humble demeanor at the festival belies the fact that she is certainly the Orson Welles of her nation.
It takes place in modern-day Cambodia, but memories of the country's gloomy past are ever-present. The acting and the quality of filming are superb, while the crackling energy of modern-day Phnom Penh is expertly captured. Her humble demeanor at the festival belies the fact that she is certainly the Orson Welles of her nation.