Oscars: Cambodia Picks 'In the Life of Music' for International Feature Film Category

Directed by Caylee So and Sok Visal, the drama follows a family's life during and after the reign of the Khmer Rouge.

Cambodia has chosen In the Life of Music — a drama that follows the fortunes of a family across three generations — as its entry for the best international feature film category at the 2020 Oscars. Co-directed by Caylee So and Sok Visal, the narrative plays out across three time periods — beginning in 1968, then picking up the thread in 1976, soon after the brutal Khmer Rouge regime took hold of Cambodia, and, finally, turning attention to 2007.

The film stars Sreynan Chea, Vandarith Phem, Ellen Wong and Arn-Chorn Pond  and binds its characters together through their love of a popular love song, Champa Battambang, by Sinn Sisamouth. He was one of the country’s most popular and prolific singers during what is considered Cambodia’s golden age of pop music from the 1950s until the 1970s. The song is still wildly popular across the nation today.

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