Assignment:
Extra Credit Opportunity:First They Killed My Father
First They Killed My Fatheris a 2017 film produced by Angelina Jolie and filmed in Cambodia, using only Cambodian actors. It is based on the memoir of Loung Ung, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime that ruled Cambodia in the late-1970's. The film has won a number of international awards, and has been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Academy Awards. The film is available on Netflix and various on-line movie streaming websites.
Film background trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x17ztl_QsZI
For this assignment, you are required to watch the film carefully, taking notes along the way, and then answer the following questions.
Do not ‘cut-and-paste' on-line reviews of the film - this is plagiarism and will result in zero points for the assignment and a possible ‘F' for the semester, as well as disciplinary action from the university.
You may, of course, watch the film with a friend or friends, but your answers must be your own, in your own words (not just a few words substituted here and there).
The assignment is worth a maximum of 12 points extra credit, and it is due no later than the day of the Final Exam. It should be about one single-spaced page in length. Late assignments will not be accepted under any circumstances.
Before watching the film, watch the background trailer (the link given above) and read the brief overview of the Khmer Rouge in the following BBC article:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-10684399
Questions:
1) Who were the Khmer Rouge? What were some of their policies and practices during their rule in Cambodia?
2) The film's producer, Angelina Jolie, has said of the film, "It's the story of a war through the eyes of a child, but it is also the story of a country." What were your thoughts and observations of Cambodian culture and the portrayal of Cambodian people as you watched the film? How is the film ‘the story of a country?'
3) Overall, discuss the film in your own words. How did it make you feel, what were some thoughts and observations you had as you watched it, etc.?