After Years

Cross-disciplinary project (In development)

After Years will explore families of the Cambodian diaspora living in Australia, North America and France. Since surviving the Khmer Rouge genocide and then living in refugee camps in the late 1970s, most of my parent’s generation migrated to these three locations, now separated by time and geographical distance.

I want to find out what Cambodians have passed down to current generations. This is more complicated given the context of the Cambodian genocide and it’s subsequent affects of PTSD, continual survival mode, intergenerational trauma and the language barrier—all of which manifests into the strained relationships between parents and children.

Coming from a Cambodian family myself, these feelings are very personal and come from lived experience. Growing up, I only knew very generally about my parent’s history and family’s background, further removed by a language I didn’t fully understand and the silence of not speaking about tragic stories. Now that my parents and I are getting older, I’m more conscious of gathering these experiences, memories and knowledge. A process that I hope to be a witness to other Cambodian people.

The project will encompass multiple works and forms including theatrical films, video installations and gallery work. One such film is the short Missing (2021).

Read an interview at The Adelaide Review.

If you have Cambodian heritage and would like to share your experiences with me, you can fill out this form here.