A River Changes Course

A River Changes Course

2013. Cambodia. Directed by Kalyanee Mam. Mam’s second documentary feature follows three families in rural Cambodia as they struggle for survival as their livelihoods are threatened by ever-increasing industrial development. Mam’s serenely measured style exposes her subjects’ hardships and the textures of their quotidian tasks—dexterous fingers comb through mounds of rice, gut heaps of fish, and guide synthetic fabrics through factory machinery. With a lightness of touch, Mam delivers a heavy blow—though it is never made explicit, the imminent destruction of natural resources looms large, especially for children on the brink of adult-hood who find themselves facing frighteningly precarious futures. In Cambodian; English subtitles. 83 min.