''A Cambodian Spring'' is a 2016 British
documentary film
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
directed and produced by Christopher Kelly, focusing on a conflict over plans to develop the
Boeung Kak lake in the
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
n capital of
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...
. The film premiered under the title ''The Cause of Progress'' at the 2016 Sheffield DocFest. It also showed at the Hot Docs festival in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
in May 2017. It was released theatrically in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 18 May 2018.
Synopsis
The film chronicles the struggle to prevent the development of the lake by the government backed and
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
funded
Shukaku Inc., which would involve filling the lake with sand and evicting the families who live around it. Spurning the offered compensation, locals protest the development, led by three activists: the Buddhist monk The Venerable Luon Sovath, and housing activists, Toul Srey Pov and Tep Vanny.
Critical response
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 20 reviews, and an average rating of 7.4/10. Writing in
Time Out, Phil de Semlyen wrote "For all its sombre revelations, 'A Cambodian Spring' exudes a powerful sense of possibility.".
The film won a Special Jury Prize from the
Best International Feature Documentary award jury at the 2017
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and Jun ...
.
[Jordan Pinto]
"Rezolution’s Rumble wins Hot Docs audience award"
'' Playback'', May 8, 2017.
It was nominated for
outstanding Debut by a British, Writer, Director or Producer at the
2019 BAFTAs.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by electronic music producer
James Holden and released on his own Border Community label.
See also
*
Shukaku Inc.#Boeung Kak lake development
References
External links
*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cambodian Spring
2016 films
British documentary films
2016 documentary films
2010s English-language films
2010s British films
English-language documentary films