Cambodian Spring
directed by Chris Kelly, United Kingdom/ Ireland/ Cambodia 2017, 127' (English friendly)
The nine years that Chris Kelly, a British documentary filmmaker and photographer, spent in Cambodia resulted in a movie which offers not only a unique image of the changes to the Cambodian landscape, including the socio-political sphere, but also constitutes possibly the most interesting take on an outsider portrayal of activists among the recent artistic “non-activist” documentaries. The three main protagonists are Luon Sovath, a Buddhist monk who becomes a video activist and human rights defender despite issues with the religious establishment that values the alliance between the throne and the altar, Srey Pov a mother of three fighting against forced evictions and her friend Tep Vanny who slowly comes to the forefront of the social protest movement against displacements. Kelly is interested in the political and personal complexity of their fight for what they believe in, which eventually turns into drama. Kelly’s amazing cinematography is accompanied by music composed by James Holden, and together they create a masterful composition of audiovisual fugue with all threads entwining in a emotional finale.
