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New Year Baby Awarded the
Crystal Heart Award
by the Heartland Film Festival
Variety review:
"..This fine first feature is a disarming personal docu that turns into a very moving consideration of historical genocide and individual heroism. Winner of a well-deserved jury prize at the San Francisco Asian-American Film Festival, it merits further exposure..." - Dennis Harvey
IDA Documentary Magazine:
"...New Year Baby is a moving personal journey ...deservedly earned the $25,000 Target Filmmaker Award for Best Documentary."
A few confirmed festival screenings:
Seattle Human Rights Film Festival (SHRFF) - OPENING FILM
Presented by Amnesty International
Feb. 13th - 17th / Seattle, WA - USA
Durango Independent Film Festival
Feb. 27th - March 2nd / Durango, CO - USA
Common Ground Film Festival with
The World Bank & The International Finance Corporation
Washington, DC - USA
UNHCR Refugee Film Festival (OPENING FILM)
June 14th to 19th / Phnom Penh - Cambodia
Asian American International Film Festival (WINNER: Audience Award & Special Jury Award)
July 22nd to 25th / New York, NY - USA
Martha's Vineyard Film Festival
August 15th / Martha's Vinyard, MA - USA
DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival (CLOSING FILM)
October 6th / The Smithsonian Institution Freer - Washington, DC - USA
San Diego Asian Film Festival
October 11th - 18th / San Diego, CA - USA
Warsaw International Film Festival
October 12th to 21st / Warsaw - Poland
Middle East International Film Festival
October 14th to 19th / Abu Dahbi - United Arab Emerates
The Heartland Film Festival (WINNER Crystal Heart Award)
October 18th to 26th / Indianapolis, IN - USA
Village Cinema Documentary Series
October 29th - 7pm @ Charles B. Wang Center / Port Jefferson, NY - USA
Amnesty International Film Festival (Spotlight Film)
November 8th -11th / Vancouver - Canada
'Movies That Matter' Human Rights Award / an Amnesty International innitiative
Jury Report-
"New Year Baby (is) a deeply tender and poignant film about a Cambodian-American's journey with her family to uncover the secrets of a tragic past at the hands of the Khmer Rouge... It was a tour de force for anyone, and particularly for a young, first-time filmmaker...
We also agreed unanimously to award New Year Baby with the Movies that Matter prize. We are confident that the universal appeal of the film will give an international audience emotional access into the impact of the genocide, and may help pave the way for the potentially forthcoming tribunal in Cambodia..."
-IDFA Movies That Matter Jury
San Francisco Best Documentary Jury Report-
"New Year Baby by Socheata Poeuv has been awarded Best Documentary for its gripping portrayal of a family's struggle to overcome the traumatic legacies of the Khmer Rouge. The film unfolds with remarkable candor, humor, and a heartbreaking intensity that captures a daughter's quest to understand her family's history and a father's willingness to lay open his vulnerabilities by confronting his past. We congratulate Socheata for a courageous debut feature."
-San Francisco Int. Asian American Film Festival Documentary Jury
AFI Dallas Documentary Jury:
"Unblinking in its pursuit of the truth…personal documentaries (are) a search for your heart and your soul and that is what they did."
"It was fu***** great." -Anonymous Dallas Juror
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Notes to the filmmakers:
"I've just finished watching your film and had to email you right away. Wow! I don¹t know where to start... I'm exhausted. It was really moving and personal. Thank you so much. I feel like I should be really thanking you...Perhaps for sharing something so personal.
Your parents are really nice Socheata. Very funny. And you portrayed them with so much love and respect. I watched it with my mum and we cried all over the place. Also, she told me it was much better than our film and I should make one like that! Its definitely got her seal of approval!"
-Paul Taylor
Director, WE ARE TOGETHER
Rise Films
London, UK
__________________
"Congratulations to you on such a personal beautiful hommage to love and family and healing. Your film is a testament to the grace and spirit of the young man you now know as your father and strength of the young woman you must be so proud to call your mother. What courageous people....Your film is the kind of gift a parent could only dream of....and the kind that only love could bring to life. Don't worry about the audience ratings and graphs and stats ...this baby will carve a path all its own."
-Patty Kim
Director, ABDUCTION: The Megumi Yokota Story
Safari Media
Washington, D.C.
_______________________
I was so touched by the film... I continue to be amazed by how well and how beautifully you got to the quick of the matter. I really could see "love," "joy," and "pardon" shine through the whole production and it really did make all the difference... it was intensely human and filled with soul. The effect was enormous and... captured the universal element of the bigger picture.
-Greg Anderson
New Haven, CT
_________________
"Congratulations on an incredible film. My husband and I recently went to the Sedona Film Festival where we saw your film. We were mesmerized. What a powerful story and one that should be told over and over. Your parents are true heroes and so are you for telling their story. I can honestly tell you that there wasn't a dry eye in the house. So thank you for sharing your family's history and good luck with your future projects."
-Melissa Brown
Prescott, Arizona
_______________________
"I laughed. I cried, all the things you expect from a great documentary."
-Debby Zimmerman
Exec. Director, Women Make Movies.
NY, NY
_______________________
"I wanted to write and say how touching I found your film... It is an excellent piece of work, and I particularly admired the way you succeeded in making such a personal film so immediate and compelling, without sentimentalizing your subject. For a directorial debut, you must be very proud!"
-James Anderson
Filmmaker, PostFilms
Santa Barbara, CA
_____________________
"I loved it. All of it...It is amazing how violent regimes can silence an entire cohort of tortured victims, but the healing can only begin when the silence is broken...you guys are amazing"
-Leslie Liao
NY, NY
_______________________
"I was completly & thoroughly moved. The honesty and love within your family was heart warming. Your Dad is a hero not only to you and your sisters and mom but will be to the world as he is to me."
-Bill Paglia Scheff
Middletown, CT
_______________________
"It is such a heartwarming family story, made out of such a brutal historcial moment. I can't describe to you how much I enjoyed the film."
-Mathew Gerry
NY, NY
______________________
"All I can say is Wow. I laughed, I cried, I learned."
-Joe Raby
NY, NY
_______________________
"This story is amazing. It is remarkable because it shows how love & family can help you survive anything... I have no words. It is all too much to take in. It gives you hope."
-Kymberly Stewart
Brooklyn, NY
______________________
"Just Wonderful! A film that can give so much. I am touched, moved and inspired. There are many lessons in the film."
-Litsa Ibrahim
Woodside, NY
______________________
"I laughed, felt a part of your journey, your family and the people of Cambodia and I was moved to tears several times. So poignant, so authentic and moving. Thank you for who you are for your family and the world."
-Barbara Frankel
North Hills, NY
______________________
"Absolutly beautiful!...Absolutly moving, full of love!"
-Tina Tsitlakidis-Biris
Astoria, NY
______________________
I am absolutely mesmerized by what you have accomplished with this film. I just saw it and I cannot stop reviewing the poignancy of the piece.
-Erica Ysbrand
Dallas, TX
________________
"This was a powerful corageous work of life and art and heart. I was humbled and moved deeply by every interaction between people and people, people and the land, people and memories, people and history, and people and their own hearts. Thank youfor this profound gift."
-Jennifer Watt
NY, NY
_________________
"I am awed by this film. The beauty of love and forgiveness is folded into the beauty and truth of the film itself... This is an important film for the world."
-Linda Ruocco
NY, NY
_________________
It was stunning - in all ways! … The movie was far more compelling than I had expected and I was expecting a lot! My friend was speechless after the showing and couldn't thank me enough for including her. I look forward to following the success of this documentary all the way to the Academy Awards. Bravo to all of you.
-Marty Corley
NY, NY
____________________
"I am very impressed with the artful, thoughtful construction of this film and the powerful emotional journey that it took me on! It is refreshingly authentic and deeply insightful into the process of unearthing painful memories and moving beyond them to a state of healing."
-Nisma Zaman
Int. Center for Transitional Justice
NY, NY
____________________
What an amazing film! The audience was very moved by it. I later spoke with several film goers and discussed your film, again, everyone I talked to loved it! Congratulations on such a successful film.
-Nan Avant
Sedona, AZ
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It truly is a remarkable film, an incredibly powerful retelling of the Cambodian genocide in terms of an individual family. Never maudlin, always sensitive, it could very well have an extraordinary influence on a generation of young Cambodians who have not yet come to terms personally with their history. We felt tremendously lucky to have been able to attend this showing.
-Cov Davis & Robin Hinch
Santa Ana, CA
________________
I just wanted to let you know that I think your film is absolutely amazing! ...I am Cambodian American- in fact, i'm the only one in my family that was born in the U.S. I have an older sister who survived the devasting genocide and this film has allowed me to get a glimpse of the horrors that she faced. I now can understand why she sometimes distances herself from me and I understand why she sometimes bursts into tears. I am able to show more compassion towards her and perhaps be a better sibling. Your film really touched my heart. I was moved by how determined you were to learn more about where you came from. I just want to say that it was so inspiring to see a young Cambodian female really make a difference in the lives of others. The future is definitely looking brighter! I look forward to New Year Baby arriving on dvd. I would LOVE to show this film to my whole family!
-Victoria Huon
L.A., CA
____________________
It is a very powerful film and I personally believe that it is by far the best documentary I experienced this year. I just want to thank you for your great/brave efforts to make it happens. I truly believe that everyone should see it.
-Catherine Jin
NY, NY
_________________
I really wanted to write and thank you for your wonderful film. I had the opportunity to watch it last night at the Phnom Penh Refugee Festival. The theater was packed beyond capacity with not even standing room left. The film is so emotive and beautiful, the audience was unified through it. A truly moving, captivating and superb documentary that goes into my top three documentaries of all time.
-Monika Nowaczyk
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
__________________
Went to the final day of the UNHCR Refugee Film Fest last night to see New Year Baby again! I got there about 15 minutes before the film started and got The LAST seat in the whole theater! (People sat everywhere they could on the floor)....my friends and I raved about it again afterwards. And it's helped me remember the meaning of the place where I currently live.
-Annie Perng
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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Well, Jo and I laughed and cried our way through Socheata's story tonight. All the way to the last scene. What an extraordinary rendering of the family story... it is artistically beautiful, and from the deep love and care... Jo says it makes her want to treat her own family differently and better... It will sit with us awhile - this film... I'd rate it the most personally moving documentary I've seen.
-Chris Gilbert
Boston, MA
__________________
The film was magnificent. I loved it and also fell in love with Socheata's family...
Kim Ferdinando
NY, NY
_____________________
My grandmother and I watched ...It really is a superb program,...A real gem. We give it two enthusiastic thumbs up. You tell a compelling story very simply and creatively. And the characters are priceless! Every scene was increasingly more touching. I can see why it’s won so many awards. My grandmother was fascinated to hear specifics of the Khmer Rouge and how the people suffered. She worked for a newspaper chain for 30 years and said she never read all of that about the children being separated and the people being forced to marry people outside their religion or ethnicity.
Celia Carey
Glass World Films
Napa, CA
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