LIFE IN CAMBODIA OCCUPIED BY THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNIST 1979-2011
10 UN RESOLUTIONS,(1979-1988) VOTED BY 116 UN MEMBER COUNTRIES ,CALL VIETNAM TO
CEASE HER OCCUPATION OF CAMBODIA & REMOVE ALL HER TROOPS FROM THE COUNTRY, ARE
NOT RESPECTED AS OF TODAY.
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2010: Born Sweet (Cynthia Wade)
by Arthur Ryel-Lindsey on April 12th, 2010 at 3:00 pm in Festivals, Film
Documentary is a subtle art form, where one creative misstep can overshadow a
good effort. Take Born Sweet, Cynthia Wade's beautifully shot documentary short
about rural Cambodian villages where relief efforts to build accessible wells
unwittingly tapped arsenic deposits, resulting in an epidemic of arsenic
poisoning, symptoms ranging from persistent coughing or diarrhea to cancer.
Modern relief efforts have built clean wells and provided education to local
children via the runaway popularity of karaoke.
At the heart of the story is Vinh, an often-smiling 15-year-old boy whose
dreams of karaoke stardom are not subdued by persistent illness.
The vast majority of the film is an accomplished, human-face story of a problem
that affects two million people across Southeast Asia. It may be the
best-crafted short at this year's Full Frame, with multiple shots perfectly
framed to fill the screen with dynamic visions of Cambodia as both a beautiful
and underserved landscape. Few movies are also this well meaning.
>From an artistic standpoint, however, one very brief scene stinks like a weed
>in the garden. In Phnom Penh, a relief worker who's just returned from Vinh's
>village is writing a new karaoke track to alert children to the human tragedy
>of arsenic poisoning.
In talking through the project with an engineer, he notes that a sick child in
the lead role would really drive the point home—and he has just the kid. Called
a point-of-view break in the world of fiction, the moment is a lie to the
audience. How did Wade record this moment exactly?
The relief worker could have made the decision to cast Vinh in the village and
invited the filmmakers to come back to get the meeting. Or the moment is a
reenactment. Or they could be in collusion from the beginning (the worker was
credited as the film's field producer, so it's likely the third route). It
creates a dramatic shift in tone while covering up some off-stage decision. If
that decision were relayed to the audience, or if the scene was left on the
hard drive, no mistake would exist. As it is, the story loses focus and, more
importantly, forfeits the craft's essential attribute: spontaneous discovery.
So much for an otherwise noble documentary journey.
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival runs from April 8 to 11.2011
Tags: Born Sweet, Cynthia Wade, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
CAMBODIA IS RUN BY THE VIENAMESE INVADERS
William Smith (left), deputy international prosecutor, speaks to Co-Prosecutor
Chea Leang(a Vietnamese ) at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in 2009. (Photo by:
Eccc/Pool)
Monday, 23 May 2011
James O'Toole
The Phnom Penh Post
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