UC Berkeley’s ACE Program
Keith, a Cambodian adoptee, encounters hostility about his family by an Asian American student in his first class at college.
Produced for Asian American Studies 148, University of California, Santa Barbara. June 2008. Filmmakers: Ria Banawis, Kunthon Meas, Michelle Merrill, Mai Nguyen.
It’s April 1975. As the Khmer Rouge takes control of Cambodia, a small orphaned girl, Li-Da Men, is flown out of the country. Eventually, she ends up as the adopted daughter of an affluent British couple and has a privileged upbringing whilst the country of her birth is returned to Year Zero. Now, twenty six years later, Li-Da returns to Cambodia in search of the truth: the truth about her past, the truth about her country’s past and the truth about what is going on in that country today. It is a journey which forces Li-Da to re-examine not just her past and her opinions, but also challenges the way in which the West regards Cambodia. Many people come forward believing they may be related to Li-Da, often travelling long distances at their own expense: none searching for a rich Western relative, all searching for personal peace, having lost children and sisters during Cambodia’s bloody war and its aftermath. This powerful film is the story of that search.
