Jolie Premieres New Film ‘First They Killed My Father’ In Cambodia
By Rashidat Akashat
Thespian Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, has hinted on Cambodia being her “awakening”, during the premier of ‘First They Killed My Father’ in the country.
Speaking exclusively to BBC, the actress had said that she hoped the film which was first premiered in the Country help Cambodians speak more on the trauma.
The actress also mentioned before the screening of the movie that about Two million people died.
The UN refugee envoy and estranged wife of Oscar award winning actor Brad Pitt, first visited Cambodia for the filming of her 2001 hit ‘Lara Croft’ Tomb Raider.
Thereafter, she adopted her first son Maddox, from Cambodia.
“I came to this country and I fell in love with its people and learned its history, and in doing so learned, how little I actually knew about the world,” she told the BBC’s Yalda Hakim.
“This country, for me was my awakening.
“I’ll always be very grateful to this country. I don’t think I ever could give back as much as this country has given me.”
Probably A Little Misunderstood- Jolie
First They Killed My Father is based on Loung Ung book with the same title.
The movie was based on five-year-old Ms Ung, who was forced to flee her home with her family in the capital Phom Penh by the Khmer Rouge.
The disarray in Cambodia occurred in Pol Pot’s rule between 1975 and 1979, an estimate of about 2 million people, were either murdered or died from starvation and overwork.
“I thought that this war that happened 40 years ago, and what happened to these people, was not properly understood,” said Jolie.
The original language of the film is the Cambodian Khmer, and the veteran actress said that while she wanted the wider world to better understand the events, she wanted it to have a great impact domestically too.
“I hope it helps the country speak more,” she said, as many survivors “haven’t told their children their story”.
