tAya was a slave. At the age of 16, the young Cambodian peasant was sold to work as a maid in Malaysia, where she was exploited and beaten during two years without receiving any salary. Now that she has returned to her village just as poor as when she left, what is left of her humanity?
The Storm Makers traces modern-day slavery in Cambodia, by uncovering the fate of this young woman and following, in parallel, the daily lives of two human traffickers, a local recruiter and the head of a trafficking network. Cambodians call them "Mey Kechol": The Storm Makers.
From the impoverished remote villages to the bustling urban centre of Phnom Penh, the film reveals a unique perspective on the exploitation of Cambodia's rural population and questions what is the price of a life in a country experiencing uninhibited economic development.

A film by Guillaume Suon

Cambodia, 2014, Documentary, 1hr20mins

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
Filming from the perspective of traffickers
"I wanted to understand what kind of persons the traffickers were. My purpose was neither to judge them nor to reduce their responsibility. I wanted to focus on the personal reasons that led them to sell human beings. I wanted to give the audience the opportunity to delve into traffickers' daily lives. Therefore I filmed them face to face, with the idea that the more we get into their minds, the more we can understand their motives and actions."
Filming the victims in the mirror of their traffickers
"I wanted to free the young migrants of their status of merchandise, to which they have been reduced by the traffickers, giving them the possibility to speak out and tell their own stories in details. […] I want migrants like Aya to feel free in front of the camera, allowing words to serve as a therapy and an escape from the past: Speaking to cure and to free themselves."

PROGRAMMER NOTE
This documentary exposes Cambodia's prevalent human trafficking system, a large network in which huge numbers of young Cambodian women are sold as slaves to various countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand. "Storm makers" refers to the system and the people that evoke tears in its victims, predominantly poor and uneducated young women and their parents. The film focuses on three people in different positions to reveal the workings and effects of human trafficking. Aya, who was exploited for two years in Malaysia and became pregnant after being raped, Ming Dy, who sold his daughter and Pou Houy, a professional dealer who has recruited and sold over 500 women. After throwing the women into hell, Pou Houy goes to church and hopes to attain salvation, his hypocrisy inciting our fury. Aya's confession that she abuses her baby because the baby reminds her of her trauma is painful to hear. The composed camera seems to request not immediate rage or sympathy, but rationality that will grasp the details of trafficking and help stop the "storm makers." (CHO Hyeyoung) BIFF 2014 - Busan international film festival

COUNTRY: Cambodia/France
Date of Production: 2014
Running Time: 66min
Color / Format: DCP / Color

CAST: Aya, Pou Houy, Ming Dy

PRODUCERS: Rithy Panh, Julien Roumy

DIRECTOR: Guillaume SUON
SCREENPLAY: Guillaume Suon, Phally Ngoeum
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Guillaume Suon
EDITOR: Barbara Bossuet
SOUND: Phally Ngoeum
MUSIC: Marc Marder

PRODUCTION COMPANIES

* Tipasa Production (France)
3320, route du Fau - 82000 Montauban,
julien.roumy@tipasaproduction.com
www.tipasaproduction.com/thestormmakers/en/

* Bophana Production (Cambodia)
64, street 200 - Phnom Penh
Tel: 33 5 63 63 40 91,855 23 99 21 74
contact@bophana.org

Producers:
Rithy Panh, Bophana (Cambodge)
&
Julien Roumy, TIPASA PRODUCTION (Montauban - France)

with the support of
Francophone Fund (OIF / CIRTEF),
Fund "Aide aux cinémas du Monde" (CNC - French National Center for Cinema and the Moving / and the Institut français), 50 000 €, in February 13rd 2014),
and Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund (New-York, USA).


Watch The Full Movie on ARTE Boutique
Available in France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg

"The Storm Makers" is shortlisted for prestigious Albert Londres prize!
"The Storm Makers : ceux qui amènent la tempête" présélectionné pour le Prix Albert-Londres !

AWARDS
* Mecenat Award for Best Asian Documentary Film, Busan International Film Festival 2014
* Full Frame Inspiration Award, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2015
* Best Feature Film, Milan Festival of African, Asian and Latin American Cinema 2015
* Special Mention Award, Salaya International Documentary Film Festival 2015

FESTIVALS
2-11 Oct 2014 - Busan International Film Festival (Busan, South Korea)
18-29 Nov 2014 - IDFA (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
27 Nov - 3 Dec 2014 - Cinemondo Villa Medici (Roma, Italy)
10-15 Feb 2015 - Human Rights Human Wrongs Festival (Oslo, Norway)
10-17 Feb 2015 - Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema (Vesoul, France)
26 Feb - 5 Mar 2015 - FrauenFilmTage (Vienna, Austria)
27 Feb - 8 Mar 2015 - FIFDH (Geneva, Switzerland)
5 Mar 2015 - Les Jeudis du FIFDH (Paris, France)
13-22 Mar 2015 - Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (Thessaloniki, Greece)
20-28 Mar 2015 - Movies That Matter Film Festival (The Hague, Netherlands)
20-28 Mar 2015 - Millenium International Documentary Film Festival (Brussels, Belgium)
21-28 Mar 2015 - Salaya International Documentary Film Festival (Salaya, Thailand)
9-12 Apr 2015 - Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (Durham, NC, United States)
17-24 Apr 2015 - San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival (San Sebastian, Spain)
4-10 May 2015 - Festival del Cinema Africano, d'Asia e America Latina (Milano, Italy)
7-17 May 2015 - DOK.fest (Munich, Germany)
8-17 May 2015 - Docs Against Gravity Film Festival (Warsow, Poland)
13-16 May 2015 - Festival international du film documentaire en Cévennes (France)
5-10 Jun 2015 - Sheffield Doc/Fest (Great Britain)
8-14 Jun 2015 - Granada Cines del Sur Film Festival (Spain)
12-16 Jun 2015 - Addis International Film Festival (AIFF) (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
17-21 Jun 2015 - AFI Docs (Washington, U.S.A.)
16-24 Oct 2015 - Ânûû-rû Âboro Film Festival (New Caledonia, France)

TV BROADCASTS
10 February 2015 - ARTE France - La Lucarne (France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg)
12 August 2015 - Canvas - VRT (Flanders, Belgium)
14 August 2015 - Phoenix (Germany)
31 August 2015 - PBS - POV (United States)
Upcoming - DR (Denmark)
Upcoming - RSI (Switzerland)
Upcoming - Channel NewsAsia (Singapore)