An obscure briefcase of desire
Alexandre Do and Lo Xu-Ming Tong’s gripping, enigmatic neo-Western explores cultural alienation in Cambodia.
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Credits
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- Production Company Overdrive Pictures
- Director Alexandre Do
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Credits
powered by
- Production Company Overdrive Pictures
- Director Alexandre Do
- Production Co. 802 Films Production
- Grade Outpost MTL
- VFX STARNO
- Director Lo Xu-Ming Tong
- Assistant Director Seng Horng Thong
- Executive Producer Sok Visal
- Executive Producer Sreylin Meas
- Producer Vises Sok
- DP Laura Van De Hel
- Colourist Martin Gaumond
- VFX Producer Frederic St-Arnaud
- VFX Co-ordinator Melanie Carignan
- Colourist Simon de Ladurantaye
- Composer Thomas Nicol
Credits
powered by
- Production Company Overdrive Pictures
- Director Alexandre Do
- Production Co. 802 Films Production
- Grade Outpost MTL
- VFX STARNO
- Director Lo Xu-Ming Tong
- Assistant Director Seng Horng Thong
- Executive Producer Sok Visal
- Executive Producer Sreylin Meas
- Producer Vises Sok
- DP Laura Van De Hel
- Colourist Martin Gaumond
- VFX Producer Frederic St-Arnaud
- VFX Co-ordinator Melanie Carignan
- Colourist Simon de Ladurantaye
- Composer Thomas Nicol
Both literally and metaphorically dark, this intriguing short film opens on a black screen – the storyteller reveals the bleak and bloody deaths of his ancestors: “On this land there are no laws, only loss. I will not die on this land.”
He’s determined to escape into a new life, but at what cost? And what’s contained in the mysterious metal briefcase he carries that is coveted by all who see it?
Under the shadow of the Khmer Rouge’s bid to annihilate culture and history, the film, titled Aniccam (Khmer for ‘impermanence’) is set in Sihanoukville, a former fishing village that’s been rapidly developed by foreign investors as a millionaire’s playground.
Against this backdrop of economic colonialism, it's a tale that probes the tension between yearning for individual betterment, but also for a sense of belonging, of connection to the past. It’s told through the journey of a young construction worker, Narith, and his encounter with an ivory smuggler and a crooked cop on a lonely road at night.
Tong explains the symbol of the suitcase: “People chase things because what they are after is meant to be a better version of themselves. Whether it is an ideal, a person or an object. You chase something because you want it. And you believe that by having it, whatever it is that you are, will be better.”
The directing duo met in London while studying at Central St Martins and, discovering they were both French-speaking Cambodians of Chinese descent – Lo Xu-Ming Tong is from Montreal while Alexandre Do grew up in Paris – they decided to collaborate and explore their Khmer heritage together.
“As a child of immigrant Cambodian parents,” says Do, “I have no connection to my ancestors. Between 1.5 and 3 million people died during the Cambodian genocide and with that, almost all of my parent’s family. Our knowledge of our ancestors is only transmitted orally and approximately. I went to Cambodia looking for a deeper understanding of where I am from, only to find its remnants. The Khmer Rouge used the words ‘annihilate’ or ‘reduce to dust’ when they tried to destroy the country’s written history and anything related to culture, art, knowledge and religion. I wanted to translate this feeling of not knowing where I belong and where I need to go when writing Narith.”
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