The trailer for Angelina Jolie’s new film for Netflix, titled, First They Killed My Father is now out.
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The show, which will release on September 15, tells the story of a little girl in Cambodia, who trains in the military camps during the regime of Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot. The autobiographical story written by Loung Ung shows how she and her family fled the city of Phnom Penh at the start of the Khmer Rouge regime, and had to be constantly on the move to escape the atrocities.
The film is jointly written by Loung Ung and Angelina Jolie, and is directed by Angelina Jolie. The music is by Marco Beltrami, cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle. First They Killed My Father is edited by Xavier Box & Patricia Rommel, with Jolie’s own production house putting it all together.
Controversy has already surrounded the film. A description of how the filmmakers cast their protagonist, has been derided on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking platforms.
In an interview to Vanity Fair, Angelina had said that the audition team had played a game with the hopeful child actors, to find the most determined.
“To cast the children in the film, Jolie looked at orphanages, circuses, and slum schools, specifically seeking children who had experienced hardship. In order to find their lead, to play young Loung Ung, the casting directors set up a game, rather disturbing in its realism: they put money on the table and asked the child to think of something she needed the money for, and then to snatch it away. The director would pretend to catch the child, and the child would have to come up with a lie. ‘Srey Moch [the girl ultimately chosen for the part] was the only child that stared at the money for a very, very long time,’ Jolie says. ‘When she was forced to give it back, she became overwhelmed with emotion. All these different things came flooding back.’ Jolie then tears up. ‘When she was asked later what the money was for, she said her grandfather had died, and they didn’t have enough money for a nice funeral.'”
This paragraph has since set many comments flowing, and was understandably criticised. However, Angelina issued a notice to Vanity Fair saying they had misrepresented her. However, Vanity Fair reviewed the interview tapes and transcriptions, and are sticking to their stand.