[Tlc] C-film

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Forwarded from Rattana Yeang.
Thanks,
justin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> June 16, 2008
>
> Contacts:
> Suely Ngouy, Executive Director, Khmer Girls in Action
> 562-986-9415
> suely at kgalb.org
>
> Maura Hurley, Public Information Officer
> California Council for the Humanities
> 415- 391-1474, ext. 308
> mhurley at calhum.org
>
> FILM BY FIRST-GENERATION KHMER AMERICAN TEENS ABOUT LEGACY OF KHMER
> ROUGE
> WAR TO PREMIERE AT L.A. FILM FESTIVAL
>
> Made as part of statewide Youth Digital Filmmakers project, documentary
> will prescreen at Long Beach City College on June 21
>
> LONG BEACH Calif. -Six Khmer American girls from Khmer Girls in Action,
> a
> social justice organization led by Southeast Asian women and girls, have
> spent the past year working on a documentary film about the legacy of
> the
> Khmer Rouge war and its effects on the first-generation
> Cambodian-American
> youth. Their 30-minute film, "Coming Together," has been selected to
> premiere at the prestigious Los Angeles Film Festival on Sunday, June 29
> at 12 p.m. and will prescreen at Long Beach City College on Saturday,
> June
> 21 at 3 p.m. The screening will be held at 1305 East Pacific Coast
> Highway, Long Beach, Dyre Hall, Room FF 107.
>
> "The young filmmakers will attend the L.A. Film Festival premiere and
> plan
> to show their film at schools and community venues.
>
> "Twenty-nine years after the genocide in Cambodia, 'Coming Together'
> reveals the untold story of the children of the refugees of war who came
> to settle in Long Beach," said Suely Ngouy, executive director of Khmer
> Girls in Action, the sponsor of the film project. "The film also
> examines
> how the experience of the Khmer Rouge war connects and disconnects a
> generation of refugees from their American children - through culture,
> language, socio-economic status and education. Ngouy added that the
> filmmaking process was a powerful experience for the young filmmakers.
> "It
> provided a way for youth in the Cambodian community to share and define
> what it means to be Khmer-American."
>
> Long Beach is home to the largest Cambodian community in the United
> States, estimated to be 60,000. It is also the first city in the United
> States to have a neighborhood designated as Cambodia Town.
>
> The young filmmakers interviewed their elders and peers for the film
> "The
> film not only makes visible the community's struggles, but also shows
> the
> strength, courage and resilience of adult and youth and their ability to
> heal, rebuild and thrive," Ngouy said.
>
> Samantha Chhim, 17, one of the filmmakers, hopes the film will make
> things
> better in the Cambodian community " I feel that our video will create
> change and affect our community not just by telling, but by showing what
> our struggles as young Americans are today." Added 16-year-old Mary
> Savady, " In making the film, I had a chance to bond and interact with
> young Cambodian women who also share a passion for creating change in
> the
> Cambodian community,"
>
> Karen Quintiliani, an anthropology professor at Cal State Long Beach who
> has written a book about the Long Beach Cambodian community, served as a
> humanities advisor on the film. "Karen helped by providing a historical
> context about the Cambodian community and its history," says Ngouy. "She
> made a presentation to our group and helped bring in the community
> elders
> to have a dialogue with us."
>
> The Khmer Girls in Action project is one of eight Youth Digital
> Filmmakers
> projects funded by the California Council for the Humanities as part of
> its "How I See It" youth campaign to engage teens in exploring the
> connections and disconnections in their lives. Film created by teens
> from
> two other YDF projects -- in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area
> --
> will also be screened at the film festival.
>
> Khmer Girls in Action received a $30,000 grant from the Council last
> June
> to undertake the yearlong project.
>
> "The idea behind Youth Digital Filmmakers is to give youth a voice in
> what
> happens in their communities and skills they can use in the future,"
> said
> Ralph Lewin, executive director of the California Council for the
> Humanities. "The humanities scholars give the teens a broader
> perspective
> on their film topics and help them see how issues they're dealing with
> today are similar to those of other places and times."
>
> The Youth Digital Filmmakers project is being conducted in partnership
> with the Digital Storytelling Institute of ZeroDivide
> http://www.zerodivide.org/.
> 

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu