A Cambodian Spring

Filmed over more than half a decade, this feature follows a campaign by the waterside residents of Boeung Kak in the Cambodian capital to halt the demolition of their homes to make way for a shiny new redevelopment. With the government and the World bank involved in this high-profile project and with the nation determined to prove that it has emerged positively from the Khmer Rouge era, the importance of this country being a place for international investors to spend their money cannot be overstated. With this powerful array of officialdom lined up against them, it falls to determined Buddhist monk Luon Sovath to galvanise the locals and walk a very tight line between the people he supports and the supreme leader of his faith - an appointment made by a Prime Minister who is not interested in any disruption to his grand design. The documentary is based on some characterful individuals, some perilously shot archive and it’s lack of directional narration allows us to engage more directly with these proud and poverty stricken citizens whose assets might not look like much, but it’s all they have - and selling for a fraction of the value, if at all, isn’t on their agenda either. As the story gathers pace, the more global elements begin to play their part as the investment conditions from the Bank seem to be being ignored and it becomes clear that unless they intervene, nothing is going to change for the protesters. It is quite obvious that despite the best intentions of an international community that, on paper anyway, is striving for an equitable distribution of it’s loans, local governance gets away with paying scant regard to any contractual clauses once the dollars are in the bank. Those resistant to the authorities risk fines, beatings, jail and maybe even worse - the sight of their homes being gobbled up by a voracious JCB. This film exemplifies that concept of a commonwealth where the wealth isn’t common, and where those fighting for their own independence and freedoms are stomped upon as little more than inconvenient ants. It is maybe a bit long. There is perhaps too much front loading onto a film that is actually more politically resonant in the last half hour, but it’s a very telling depiction of a society that has had enough of despots and just wants to be treated fairly and with respect.