Phnom Penh Lullaby

Saran and Ilan Schickman are an unlikely couple in Phnom Penh. She is an alcoholic Cambodian, and he an Israeli who moved to Phnom Penh looking for a better life. It quickly becomes clear that their relationship is extremely problematic. They don't speak one another's language, nor do they possess enough money or affection to raise their young daughters Marie and Jasmine properly. During the film, their dysfunctional family falls apart. The two of them argue about the children in front of the camera, and Polish director Pawel Kloc captures it all in this intimate and difficult portrait. Saran's parents are worried that the children will be sold to a foreigner, and Ilan also begins to be increasingly suspicious of Saran. Meanwhile, they are forced to survive in the margins of society - Ilan tries to earn some money by reading tarot cards to tourists in the city's red light district. In grainy hidden camera recordings, pimps whisper the price for a 12-year-old child. Kloc uses his debut film to concentrate on the painful moments of this unhappy family, with a heartbreaking climax.