Events

Title: The Last Refuge
Directors: Anne-Laure Porée and Guillaume Suon
Length of Film: 65 minutes

After the screening, there will be a question-and-answer session with Mr Neth Prak, a Bunong community activist and collaborator in the documentary’s production.

CHAIRPERSON

Dr Catherine Scheer, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

SYNOPSIS

This is the last bastion. A few kilometers from the Vietnamese border, Cambodia’s Bunong are faced with economic land concessions, which are supposed to bring them “development”. In practice, they lose their cemeteries, they lose their fields; they lose the nourishing and protective forest. Their land is being razed by the rubber companies’ bulldozers. Pou Chap, his family and his neighbors are concerned with the practices of these companies, but they refuse to become rubber laborers. They learn the hard way to survive in an increasingly difficult environment; trying to safeguard what they can of their way of life. This documentary sheds light on their everyday life in the Cambodian Highlands, on their ongoing struggle for the sake of their souls.

ABOUT THE DISCUSSANT

Neth Prak is a Bunong community activist who co-founded the Bunong Indigenous Peoples Association and is engaged, together with a group of co-villagers, in negotiations with one of the multinational companies whose concessions surround their commune. After having worked for an NGO in the field of education, Neth obtained a BA in rural development from the Royal University of Phnom Penh where he is currently studying social work (MA). He pursued legal, advocacy and media trainings with Minority Rights Group and was an Indigenous Fellow at OHCHR. Over the past 9 years, Neth has been involved in several research projects and documentary movie productions among which “The Last Refuge”.

REGISTRATION

Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you click on the “Register” button above to RSVP.