Rice People
| Rice People | |
|---|---|
 The DVD cover. | |
| Directed by | Rithy Panh |
| Screenplay by | Ève Deboise Rithy Panh |
| Based on | No Harvest But a Thorn by Shahnon Ahmad |
| Produced by | Jacques Bidou Pierre-Alain Meier |
| Starring | Peng Phan Mom Soth Chhim Naline |
| Cinematography | Jacques Bouquin |
| Edited by | Andrée Davanture Marie-Christine Rougerie |
| Music by | Jean-Claude Brisson Marc Marder |
| Distributed by | Facets Video |
Release date |
|
Running time | 125 minutes |
| Country | Cambodia |
| Language | Khmer |
Rice People (
The film premiered in the main competition at the
Plot
In Cambodia, where families were torn apart in the communist Khmer Rouge's genocidal bid to transform the country into an agrarian utopia, it is ironic that people have lost touch with the land. For a generation of children, the rice comes not from the ground, but from a sack, offloaded from the back of a United Nations relief truck.
So it is in these uncertain times, that a Cambodian family is attempting to grow rice. The father, Pouev, is concerned that the family's plot of land is shrinking, and he might not be able to grow a big enough crop.
The mother, Om, is worried for her husband, and her worst fears are confirmed when Poeuv steps on a poisonous thorn, and then, after a protracted period of being bedridden, dies of infection.
Om is unable to handle the pressure of being the head of the family, nor does she have the strength to tend to the rice fields. She turns to alcohol and gambling and is eventually locked up for her mental illness.
Responsibility for bringing in the crop and raising her six sisters falls on the oldest girl, Sakha.
Cast
- Peng Phan as Om
- Mom Soth as Poeuv
- Chhim Naline as Sakha
- Va Simorn as Sokhoeun
- Sophy Sodany as Sokhon
- Muong Danyda as Sophon
- Pen Sopheary as Sophoeun
- Proum Mary as Sophat
- Sam Kourour as Sopheap
Release
Rice People premiered at the
The film was
See also
- List of submissions to the 67th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Cambodian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
- ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- ^ "Rithy Panh". Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
External links
- Neak sre at IMDb
- Rice People at AllMovie
- Rice People at Rotten Tomatoes
