Winner of the Cristal, the highest award at Annecy Animation Festival, Funan is a powerful and beautiful story of a young mother’s determination to hold on to her family during unspeakably trying times.
During the Khmer Rouge madness of the 1970s in Phnom Penh, young Chou’s world is upended when the population is deported to work camps and she becomes separated from her 4-year-old son. Working in the fields day and night while living in squalor, Chou and the people in her camp are reduced to slave status, fighting for scraps of food and doing whatever they can to survive. With reality becoming grimmer by the day, Chou remains steadfast in her determination to find her son and reunite her family – even if it means risking everything.
Stunningly art directed by Michael Crouzat (key animator on Despicable Me) the sweeping immensity and beauty of the Cambodian landscape serves as poignant backdrop to the heartrending cruelty Chou faces, while prompting the question, can this be real? Featuring nuanced performances by acclaimed French actors Bérénice Bejo and Louis Garrel.