Wikipedia:
Rice People |
| Rice People | |
|---|---|
 The DVD cover. |
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| Directed by | Rithy Panh |
| Produced by | Jacques Bidou Pierre-Alain Meier |
| Written by | Shahnon Ahmad (novel) Ève Deboise Rithy Panh |
| Starring | Peng Phan Mom Soth Chhim Naline |
| Music by | Jean-Claude Brisson Marc Marder |
| Cinematography | Jacques Bouquin |
| Editing by | Andrée Davanture Marie-Christine Rougerie |
| Distributed by | Facets Video |
| Release date(s) |  May 1994 September 15, 1994
June 9, 1995 |
| Running time | 125 min. |
| Country | Cambodia |
| Language | Khmer |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Rice People (Khmer: Neak sre) is a 1994 Cambodian drama film directed and co-written by Rithy Panh. Adapted from the 1966 novel Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan (No Harvest But a Thorn), by Malaysian author Shahnon Ahmad, which is set in the Malaysian state of Kedah, Rice People is the story of a rural family in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia, struggling to bring in a single season's rice crop. It was filmed in the Cambodian village of Kamreang, in the Kien Svay and Boeung Thom areas of Kandal Province near Phnom Penh, on the banks of the Mekong River. The cast features both professional and non-professional actors.
The film premiered in the main competition at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and was submitted to the 67th Academy Awards, the first time a Cambodian film had been submitted as a possible nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.
Plot
In Cambodia, where families were torn apart in the
So it is in these uncertain times, that a Cambodian family is attempting to grow rice. The father, Pouev, is concerned that the family's plot of land is shrinking, and he might not be able to grow a big enough crop.
The mother, Om, is worried for her husband, and her worst fears are confirmed when Poeuv steps on a poisonous thorn, and then, after a protracted period of being bedridden, dies of infection.
Om is unable to handle the pressure of being the head of the family, nor does she have the strength to tend to the rice fields. She turns to alcohol and gambling and is eventually locked up for her mental illness.
Responsibility for bringing in the crop and raising her six sisters falls on the oldest girl, Sakha.
Cast
- Peng Phan as Om
- Mom Soth as Poeuv
- Chhim Naline as Sakha
- Va Simorn as Sokhoeun
- Sophy Sodany as Sokhon
- Muong Danyda as Sophon
- Pen Sopheary as Sophoeun
- Proum Mary as Sophat
- Sam Kourour as Sopheap
Release
Rice People premiered at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival in the main competition for the Palm d'Or, a prize that went to Pulp Fiction.[1] The film had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film was submitted to the 67th Academy Awards as a possible nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, the first time a Cambodian film had been submitted to the Academy Awards.
References
- ^ Rithy Panh. Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
External links
- Neak sre at the Internet Movie Database
- Rice People at All Movie Guide
- Rice People at Rotten Tomatoes
| Films of Rithy Panh |
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| Site 2 (1989) • Cambodge, entre guerre et paix (1991) • Rice People (1994) • Bophana: A Cambodian Tragedy (1996) • One Evening After the War (1998) • The Land of the Wandering Souls (2000) • Que la barque se brise, que la jonque s'entrouvre (2001) • S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003) • The People of Angkor (2003) • The Burnt Theatre (2005) • Le papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise (2007) • Un barrage contre le Pacifique (2008) |
 Cinema of Cambodia |
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Actors • Directors • Films A-Z • Chronology of films |
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