In her feature directorial debut, Kalyanee Mam, the cinematographer for the Academy Award-winning documentary Inside Job, explores the damage rapid development has wrought in her native Cambodia on both a human and environmental level. Rural communities, used to reaping the bounty of their mountainous jungles and lush rivers, have witnessed their forests being cleared, land becoming scarce and costly, and fishing stocks rapidly depleting. No longer able to provide for their families, and often accruing massive debt as a result, many Cambodians have been forced to leave their rural lives behind to seek employment in the industrial factories of Phnom Penh. Following her subjects for more than two years, Mam achieves a profound intimacy with them as they confront these challenges in this stunningly shot vérité portrait. - B.T., Sundance Festival

Awards:
Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize Documentary
San Francisco International Film Festival Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary Feature
Atlanta Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature
Full Frame Festival Center For Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award
Docville International Documentary Film Festival Conscience Award
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Best Director and Best Cinematography
Environmental Film Festival at Yale Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature
RiverRun International Film Festival Human Rights Award