Award Winning Documentary about human rights in Cambodia by Chris Kelly
- Date(s)
- May 4, 2018
- Location
- Queen's Film Theatre, Queen's University Belfast
- Time
- 18:00 - 21:00
Presented by the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, the Northern Irish theatrical premiere of this acclaimed documentary will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Chris Kelly, and the star of the film Venerable Sovath, and introduced by Professor John Brewer.
Buddhist monk and award-winning activist Venerable Loun Sovath is harassed, censored, and evicted by his own religious leaders when he becomes a key figure in the land-rights protests that led up to the “Cambodian Spring” beginning in 2013. Two fearless women, children in tow, take charge and lead the growing protest in their community, repeatedly facing imprisonment and violence.
Shot over six years, A Cambodian Spring is an intimate portrait of three people caught up in the chaotic and aggressive sweep of forced evictions and land grabbing in the name of “economic progress”. The film charts the complexities, both political and personal, of fighting for what you believe, asking the audience: how much would you be willing to sacrifice?
The film has been screened at international film festivals in more than twenty countries around the world, winning numerous awards including the prestigious Special Jury Prize at Hot Docs International Documentary Festival and Best Documentary at the Brooklyn Film Festival. The film was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award and a One World Media Award and has an original soundtrack by the visionary electronic music composer James Holden.