July 2007 News

New Year Baby Wins
Audience Award & Special Jury Award
30th Asian American International Film Festival
New York, NY

Sponsored by
The Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund
&
The Asian Women Giving Circle

New Year Baby made its New York premiere at the Asia Society. It was the first sell out of more than 100 films in the festival. Both screenings were recieved with standing ovations. Socheata's father "Pa" had a hug line so long we were asked to leave the screening room.

Other News:

• The Movies That Matter Foundation - an initiative of Amnesty International - awarded funding to support the Cambodian outreach program to take the film across Cambodia.

• The first Cambodian language test is complete.

• The Asian Women Giving Circle hosted a Meet the Director cocktail pary in NYC and awarded funding to support the New York education outreach work.

June 2007 News

2007 Echoing Green Fellowship awarded to Socheata Poeuv

• The $60,000 award over two years will support her work to document 10,000 Khmer Rouge survivor stories as interviewed by their children.

• 20 fellows were selected out of more than 900 international applicants

• Socheata will continue her work in New Haven, CT as she tours the world with the film New Year Baby
• Official website anouncement

Other June News-

• The crew is working to invite underwriters to support the NYB Academy Award qualification.

• New Year Baby is selected for the Southern Arts Federation Tour

  • Socheata & the film are scheduled for a 10 city tour in 2008

• Socheata was recently interviewed on the KUCI's Radio show Film School

  • You can hear and share the interview at www.kuci.org/filmschool

• New Year Baby sold out all week at the UNHCR Refugee Film Festival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

  • We received two notes that all seats & floor space were filled.

• The Independent Documentary Association Documentary Magazine writes that New Year Baby
  "deservedly earned the $25,000 Target Filmmaker Award for Best Documentary."

• A test for the Cambodian dubbed version for Cambodian distribution has begun

May 2007 News

New Year Baby
Wins the Audience Award
Los Angeles VC Film Festival

www.vconline.org

New Year Baby took the Non-Fiction Audience Award at the Los Angeles VC Film Festival. There were 160 films in the festival. NYB was the only one to have an additional screening due to audience demand and both screenings sold out early.

Other News:

• Socheata joined the film in Donegal Ireland where New Year Baby was the opening film for the Guth Gafa Film Festival.
• Socheata reports that New Year Baby was the only film with two capacity filled screenings at Guth Gafa.
• The film's introduction was Irish step dancing and traditional folk songs.
• Last month Socheata spoke and screened the film at both Yale Law School & the Harvard Kennedy School.
• New Year Baby is confirmed to screen at the Martha's Vineyard Film Festival on Aug. 15th. Socheata will attend. It's a good place to spend a few days in August.

April 2007 News

New Year Baby
Wins Best Documentary Award
AFI Dallas International Film Festival

www.afidallas.com

It is both true and hard to imagine. New Year Baby has taken top honors in two prominent festivals in it's first month in the United States. The film was received with a standing ovation at AFI Dallas and awarded the newest honor by another unanimous decision. Over 190 films were included in the festival.

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."

• We were told that the Chairman of the AFI Dallas board specifically asked for a copy of the New Year Baby on hearing reports from the first screening.

• The festival turned away overflow theater goers.

• The Poeuv family attended the second screening and received the standing ovation.

• Socheata has a new Tiffany crystal award.

• James Vogl is working to figure out how to add more laurels to our postcards and posters.

• Our crew, funders and donor community are very proud.

Other News:

Variety gives New Year Baby a rave 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 on the fest, educational and broadcast circuits..." - Dennis Harvey

• New Year Baby is invited back to Yale for a private law school screening.
• We presented a private fundraising screening at the New York Harvard Club.
• NYB will compete at the VC Film Film Festival in Los Angeles in May.
• NYU's APA Studies is sponsoring an April 17th Cambodian New Year Celebration screening of New Year Baby.

March 2007 News

New Year Baby
Wins Best Documentary Award
at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival


www.asianamericanfilmfestival.org

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."

There was a lot of hugging at the first screening as well.
-Charles Vogl
Producer

February 2007 News

Socheata and I are still in Phnom Penh. We screened the film earlier this month for NGO professionals and diplomats. We turned about 50 people away because of capacity. There was hugging and crying as usual. The next day Socheata was twice recognized at breakfast. She got to hear what an impact it had on the newest audience. In one meeting an NGO staffer then shared that his wife was inspirationally crying in their car the next day just thinking about the film. It has been quite a response. I learned to bring many more postcards than I ever thought needed.

Our schedules are filled with meetings and four NGOs have already expressed clear intention in sharing the work across Cambodia. We are now in action fundriaising to create a Cambodian language version. I also scheduled a bigger venue for a screening tonight so more possible collaborators can experience the film.

The New Year Baby Cambodia Adventure group left Phnom Penh this week. Now they encourage me to set up the next trip. It was a hands down success that all found moving. We also had a vehicle accident on the trip. Some were hurt, including my parents. All expect full recovery if they follow medical advice. (post in Socheata's Diary )

Special Gift:
Judy Goldstein and Danielle Santiago are underwriting Socheata's air fare to the DocAviv Film Festival in Tel Aviv, Israel. This will be a powerful introduction to the Middle East and may lead to screenings in nearby regions.

• New Year Baby is selected for the exclusive Working Films Residency at MASS MoCa to "create intentional and strategic audience engagement."
• New Year Baby is in competition for Best Documentary at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.
• New Year Baby is a "HOT FILM" at the Goteburg Film Festival in Sweden.
• New Year Baby is included in the OxDox Film Festival - Oxford, England March 10th - 25th

-Charles Vogl
Producer

January 2007 News

The international festival invitations are flowing in. We went through 100 DVD screeners in three weeks after our IDFA win. The crew refined post-production issues in December, so New Year Baby looks and sound better than the world premiere in Amsterdam. Posters have been printed and Socheata and I prepare for our one month trip to Cambodia to share the film with NGO community there. You can check out our new poster by James Vogl to the right. Photography provided by David Seaver.

San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
www.asianamericanfilmfestival.org

• The SFIAAFF is the nation's largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting approximately 130 works in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose.
• Both screenings will be sponsored by KQED's Immigration in Focus initiative www.kqed.org/immigrationinfocus.
  

December 2006 News

Amsterdam, Holland - Sat. Dec. 2, 2006- IDFA Festival
New Year Baby Wins the 'MOVIES THAT MATTER' HUMAN RIGHTS CINEMA AWARD - an initiative by AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

By a unanimous jury decision, New Year Baby is awarded the 'Movies That Matter' Human Rights Award - an initiative by Amnesty International. The jury named New Year Baby a "tour de force" with "universal appeal." This is the highest international human rights honor the film can win.

More than 200 films are selected for the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) each year from across the world. Only 5 awards are presented to feature length films and only the Movies that Matter competition includes films from every competition.

In addition to the award honor, New Year Baby will be theatrically screened in the Netherlands to share the film across the country. Even greater, Amnesty International has expressed interest in supporting the film to share the work internationally.

New Year Baby is also a top ten audience favorite of the 172 audience rated films. Screenings sold out and festival goers waited for seats after theaters were full. IDFA scheduled an additional screening due to audience response. The film now has festival invitations around the world. We plan to take the story to the world.

If you would like to schedule a private fundraising screening to support the outreach and impact, please contact Producer Charles Vogl right away. Celebrate as we do.

-Charles Vogl, Producer
charles@roguish.com

'Movies That Matter' 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 2006 Movies That Matter Jury

November 2006 News

Amsterdam, Tues. Nov. 29th, 2006- IDFA Festival

For three days New Year Baby has been listed in the TOP TEN of the 173 films rated by audiences. At the second screening, the tickets sold out and more people came to the theater than there were seats. People fought at the theater door to get in and yelled at the IDFA volunteers. We had one woman sitting on the stairs because the seats were full. One major film festival director couldn't get in and later asked me personally for a DVD copy at the industry party her festival hosted that night. At the end of the NYB screening, the IDFA moderator stopped the applause so there would be time for a Q&A session with Socheata.

We are delighted to see the world loves this film, story and message. It is a miracle that we appreciate every day.

-Charles Vogl
Producer

Amsterdam, Sat. Nov. 25th, 2006- World Premiere
Last night New Year Baby made its world premiere at IDFA, the most prestigious documentary film festival in the world. Over 200 viewed the film. The audience then gave Socheata a standing ovation.

Two festival representatives immediately extended two international invitations and press approached Socheata. The festival staff reported that the audience rated the film "very good" & "superb."

We brought 500 NYB buttons to IDFA for 4 screenings. Half are gone at the end of the first screening.

It is about as good an international premiere as a first film made over three years can ever expect.

The crew invited some NYers to a private screening in November. There was a surprise standing ovation. Here are some comments:

"I was completely & thoroughly moved. The honesty & love within your family was heartwarming. Your dad is a hero - not only to you, your sisters and mom, but will be to the world as he is to me."
-Bill Paglia Scheff Middletown, CT

"This story is amazing. It is remarkable because it showcases the human spirit and it shows how love & family can help you survive anything. It is a story of a father and a daughter healing... It give you hope. It connects you to your fellow humans."
-Kymberly Stewart Brooklyn, NY

"All I can say is Wow!...I laughed, I cried, I learned and was outraged... You guys did an amazing job! I'm so proud of what you've accomplished."
- Joe Raby NY,NY

"An Incredibly moving and intimate portrayal of family life, relationships and personal strength in the face of national catastrophe. A celebration of familial strength..."
-Veronica Price NY, NY