First Look: ‘To Speak’1 min read

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To Speak (PG)

Director: Craig Ower

2007 | Cambodia / Australia / Singapore | 104 mins

Based on a true story…
Ratana is a 12-year-old Cambodian girl, living a tenuous existence in an impoverished rural village. Despite the suffocating pessimism of her fellow villagers, she dreams of a better life, and of building a new and permanent home for her family. However, a better future seems impossible, until a local development agency suggests a radical plan for achieving her dreams. The other villagers think that Ratana is “crazy” to trust the “outsiders”, but she seizes the opportunity and sets herself on a collision course with her family, the village and even Mother Nature herself. To succeed, Ratana will need to rise above the grind of daily survival and also grapple with the terrible legacy of the Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields.
In the pursuit of her dreams, Ratana will be pushed to the very limits of her strength and spirit – to the point where too much hope can crush you.