CTFF 2019 Official Selection: FUNAN
FUNAN
2018 | Animation | Cambodia, French | 84 min | French, English subtitles
Screening: Sunday, September 15th, 8:00pm at Art Theatre Long Beach
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS: GET TICKETS NOW
Note: This is our closing film so it will be screened after our Closing Ceremony
Synopsis: Cambodia, April 1975. Chou is a young woman whose everyday world is suddenly upended by the arrival of the Khmer Rouge regime. During the chaos of the forced exile from their home, Chou and her husband are separated from their 4-year-old son, who has been sent to an unknown location. As she navigates her new reality, working in the fields day and night under the careful watch of soldiers, and surviving the small indignities and harrowing realities of the increasingly grim work camps, Chou remains steadfast in her determination to reunite her family – even if it means risking everything. Winner of the top prizes at the Annecy Animation Festival and the Animation is Film Festival, Funan is a searing and remarkable debut from filmmaker Denis Do, who uses his own family history as inspiration for a thrilling story of love, loss and enduring hope in the most trying of times. Featuring the voices of Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) and Louis Garrel (The Dreamers).
Writer, Director: Denis Do is a French director and screenwriter of Cambodian origin. In 2018 he won the Grand Prix at the Annecy Festival for his filmFunan , whose plot unfolds during the Khmer Rouge revolution. Born in Paris in 1985, Denis was raised in 3 different cultures, which all reflect on his thought process and work: from France to China, and Cambodia. He was always fascinated by images and drawing, and his education led him to an artistic route: in 2009 he graduated the prestigious school Les Gobelins “L’école de l’image”, pioneer in the fields of animation and filmmaking. His last school project, created in collaboration with Thomas Charra, Michael Crouzat, Gabriel Jolly Monge and Kherveen Dabydall, was a short film, LE RUBAN is the tale of a love story under the Chinese Cultural Revolution in the 1960’s. This first experience confirmed his desire to tell human stories, personal and full of emotions, and to implement the story of one person within the larger frame of History – and all with a sleek and realist esthetic.
Directed by: Denis Do
Produced by: Sébastien Onomo, David Grumbach, Annemie Degryse, Louise Génis Cosserat, Justin Stewart
Written by: Denis Do, Magali Pouzol, Elise Trinh
Starring: Bérénice Bejo, Louis Garrel
Music by: Thibault Kientz Agyeman
Edited by: Laurent Prim
