“Heart-wrenching yet absolutely beautiful” FUNAN Opens June 21 at AFS Cinema

FUNAN opens Friday, June 21 at the AFS Cinema. Purchase tickets.

Cambodia, April 1975. Chou is a young woman whose everyday world is suddenly upended by the arrival of the Khmer Rouge regime. During the chaos of the forced exile from their home, Chou and her husband are separated from their 4-year-old son, who has been sent to an unknown location. As she navigates her new reality, working in the fields day and night under the careful watch of soldiers, and surviving the small indignities and harrowing realities of the increasingly grim work camps, Chou remains steadfast in her determination to reunite her family – even if it means risking everything. A NY Times Critic’s Pick and winner of the top prizes at the Annecy Animation Festival and the Animation is Film Festival, FUNAN is a searing and remarkable debut from filmmaker Denis Do, who uses his own family history as inspiration for a thrilling story of love, loss and enduring hope in the most trying of times. Featuring the voices of Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) and Louis Garrel (The Dreamers).

REVIEWS

“A realistic and moving account of a major 20th century atrocity.” – Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter

“By embracing hand-drawn animation as a tool for tactful re-creation, “Funan” director Denis Do provides audiences a unique window into this relatively under-represented 20th-century horror, one that serves as an act of witnessing even as it avoids directly showing the violence on-screen.” – Peter Debruge, Variety

“Heart-wrenching yet absolutely beautiful, this anime film movingly illustrates a tumultuous period of Cambodian history that’s relatively unknown to Western viewers.” – Joyce Slayton, Common Sense Media 

“Do demonstrates a masterful amount of restraint, and his narrative minimalism maximizes the emotional and intellectual power of the story.” – William Bibbiani, TheWrap

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