Coming to PBS’s POV this coming Monday, August 31: THE STORM MAKERS
Guillaume Suon’s intimate exploration of the toll of human trafficking made its debut at Busan last year. Other fest appearances include IDFA, Thessaloniki Doc, Movies That Matter, Full Frame, DOK.fest Munich, Docs Against Gravity, Sheffield, and AFI Docs, among others.
Suon’s effectively understated film tackles the disturbing topic of human trafficking in Cambodia from an unexpected perspective – not only from that of a former slave who managed to escape, but also from two individuals actively involved in recruiting and entrapping young people into captivity, and, in so doing, creating the turmoil in the lives of their family that lends the project its title. Representing the former is Aya, a young woman sold into supposed maid service in Malaysia when she was just 16. Instead, she faced forced imprisonment, the confiscation of her passport, mental and physical abuse, and rape. Though she managed to escape, Aya’s mother treats her with contempt, angry that she has brought back a baby out of wedlock – another mouth to be fed. If that isn’t disturbing enough, Suon weaves in the stories of Pou Houy, the owner of a recruitment agency who matteroffactly notes the vulnerabilities upon which he preys, and who has somehow rationalized his actions to the extent that he believes he is a pious Christian; and Ming Dy, a local recruiter Pou Houy employs to find victims from rural villages. Shockingly, Ming Dy has already sold her own daughter into slavery in order to pay her bills. Suon presents these figures refreshingly free of histrionics, underscoring the fundamental economic and social disparities that inform their troubling decisions and that have led them to justify the exploitation of even family members for income.
what (not) to doc 