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Daron Ker is a
Cambodian-American Cambodian Americans, also Khmer Americans, are Americans of Cambodian or Khmer ancestry. In addition, Cambodian Americans are also Americans with ancestry of other ethnic groups of Cambodia, such as the Chams and Chinese Cambodians. According to ...
filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
best known for his feature documentaries "Rice Field of Dreams" and "I Ride."


Early life

Born in
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 ...
two years before
Pol Pot Pol Pot (born Saloth Sâr; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian politician, revolutionary, and dictator who ruled the communist state of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976 until Cambodian–Vietnamese War, his overthrow in 1979. During ...
swept into power, Ker and his family were imprisoned by the
Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...
in Battambong
concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...
from 1975 to 1979. During the fall of the regime in late 1979, his family was able to escape to a Thai
refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for in ...
. Ker has stated that one of his earliest childhood memories was seeing
Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...
's epic "
Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...
" projected onto a bedsheet at the camp in
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, an experience that inspired him to become a filmmaker. In 1981, his family moved to
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
after being sponsored by a local church group. After working for a time as a messenger in and around
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
, Ker moved to
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
to attend film school at the
Academy of Art University The Academy of Art University (AAU, or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. ...
.


"Rice Field of Dreams"

His first film, "Rice Field of Dreams" saw Ker returning to Cambodia for the first time in almost thirty years to document the creation of the countries' first
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
team. "Rice Field of Dreams" follows Cambodian-American Joeurt "Joe Cook" Puk as he coaches Cambodia's first national baseball team to compete in the
2007 Southeast Asian Games The 2007 Southeast Asian Games (), officially known as the 24th Southeast Asian Games, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand. This was the sixth time Thailand hosted the ...
in Thailand. The premiered at the Long Beach Art Theatre in April 2011 and will be released by FilmBuff in December 2011.


"I Ride"

Ker's second film, "I Ride", is a documentary about the Fryed Brothers Band, also known as "America’s Biker Band". The film focuses on American biker culture, with Ker following the brothers as they travel the roads of America, playing concerts for
motorcycle club A motorcycle club is a group of individuals whose primary interest and activities involve motorcycles. A motorcycle group can range as clubbed groups of different bikes or bikers who own same model of vehicle like the Harley Owners Group. There ...
s, recalling old stories, and creating new legends along the way. The film is being released by FilmBuff is December 2011.


Upcoming projects

Ker is currently developing his first narrative feature, "Holiday in Cambodia, " about a Cambodian immigrant who gets deported for being at the wrong place at the wrong time and because he isn't an American citizen. Although in the early stages of development, Ker has already recruited veteran
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
-nominated cinematographer
Hiro Narita Hiro Narita (born June 26, 1941) is a Japanese-American cinematographer. Early life and education Narita was born in 1941, in Keijō, Keiki-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan (now Seoul, South Korea) to Japanese parents. In 1945, he and his family mov ...
(" The Rocketeer," " Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," "
Never Cry Wolf ''Never Cry Wolf'' is a fictional account of author Farley Mowat's subjective experience observing wolves in subarctic Canada, first published in 1963 by McClelland and Stewart. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1983. It has been cr ...
") to shoot the film. Ker is also dedicated to helping create a modern Cambodian
cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...
and has stated he dreams of opening the countries' first
film school A film school is an educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of filmmaking, including such subjects as film production, film theory, digital media production, and screenwriting. Film history courses and hands-on technical training are ...
.


See also

* List of Khmer films of 2010


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ker, Daron Cambodian film directors Academy of Art University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)