Resurrecting Bokator Khmer, The Nearly Lost Martial Art of Cambodia
Soon to be released, a new DVD introduces the world to the pride of Cambodian martial arts, while preserving a piece of history, which was almost lost. The Ancient Khmer martial art of Bokator is something which belongs only to Cambodia. The proof is written in stone, on the walls of Angkor Wat. A thousand years of war with Thailand and Vietnam, followed by the Khmer Rouge Genocide nearly wiped this art off of the face of the Earth. Film maker and Khmer genocide survivor, Tim Pek, and martial arts author, Antonio Graceffo, have teamed up to create the DVD Bokator Khmer. Shot on location in and around Phnom Penh, the DVD introduces the world to this fascinating martial art, which is a complete fighting system of more than 1,000 separate movements.
Bokator includes striking, grappling, ground fighting, and weapons. The DVD also features Master Sam Kim Saen, who fled the Khmer Rouge, and arrived in the USA as a refugee. After returning to Cambodia, more than twenty years later, Master Sam Kim Saen opened the first modern school of Bokator. The Master works tirelessly, trying to teach as many students as possible, in the hopes that the art will live on. "If we had more time they could specialize", said the Master. "But I want every one of my black belts to know every single movement, form, and weapon, so when I die, no portion of the art will be lost." See the beauty of a lethal Cambodian martial art. Learn about the plight of the Khmer people. And, become one more link in the long chain of history, a history which will include Bokator Khmer. Visit the film's website.
Bokator includes striking, grappling, ground fighting, and weapons. The DVD also features Master Sam Kim Saen, who fled the Khmer Rouge, and arrived in the USA as a refugee. After returning to Cambodia, more than twenty years later, Master Sam Kim Saen opened the first modern school of Bokator. The Master works tirelessly, trying to teach as many students as possible, in the hopes that the art will live on. "If we had more time they could specialize", said the Master. "But I want every one of my black belts to know every single movement, form, and weapon, so when I die, no portion of the art will be lost." See the beauty of a lethal Cambodian martial art. Learn about the plight of the Khmer people. And, become one more link in the long chain of history, a history which will include Bokator Khmer. Visit the film's website.
Opening nationwide in the US on 9 November is Guy Jacobson's critically-acclaimed film Holly. Shot on location in Cambodia, including many scenes in actual brothels in the notorious red light district of Phnom Penh, Holly is a captivating, touching and emotional drama. Patrick (Ron Livingston), an American card shark and dealer of stolen artifacts, has been 'comfortably numb' in Cambodia for years, when he encounters Holly (Thuy Nguyen), a 12-year-old Vietnamese girl, in the K11 red light village. The girl has been sold by her impoverished family and smuggled across the border to work as a prostitute. Holly's virginity makes her a lucrative prize, and when she is sold to a child trafficker, Patrick embarks on a frantic search through both the beautiful and sordid faces of the country, in an attempt to bring her to safety.Harsh, yet poetic, this feature forms part of the 'K-11' Project, dedicated to raising awareness of the epidemic of child trafficking and the sex slavery trade through several film projects. The film's producers endured substantital hardships in order to be able to shoot in Cambodia and have also founded the RedLight Children Campaign, which is a worldwide grassroots initiative generating conscious concern and inspiring immediate action against child sexploitation. Find out more about the film and the project here.
Finally, have a sneak preview at Sam B Lorn's latest movie, Moirai - Smile Now, Cry Later, an action-thriller focused on one man's endeavors to avenge his adopted mother’s death while being thwarted by a local drug baron. Sam's a Cambodian filmmaker with more than eight years of experience in the film industry and has produced/written/directed three feature films bringing a modern Cambodian-American experience to the big screen. Visit Sam's Myspace site here.
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