Synopsis

Neang is an indigenous woman in northeastern Cambodia whose village has been flooded by a hydroelectric dam. Industrialists collude with the government to pressure the locals to leave their ancestral land, but Neang fights to preserve the unity of her community and family, even as her children's dreams veer further from traditional ways of life.

Directing

Polen Ly

With

Neang Chaeu, Sokha Nen, Khley Nen

Production

Producers : Lucas Sénécaut (L’Oeil Vif Productions, France), Thibaut Amri (Avant la nuit, France), Rithy Panh (Anupheap Productions, Cambodia)

Coproducers : Jules David (L’Oeil Vif Productions, France), Benjamin Costes (Avant la nuit, France)

Associate producers : Mouloud Ouyahia (L'Oeil Vif Productions, France), Antoine Guide & Romain Rampillon (Avant la nuit, France)

In coproduction with Lyon Capitale TV

Photography

Polen Ly

Sound

Polen Ly

Editting

Penda Houzangbé & Jack Atmore

Technical crew

Sound editing : Hugo Rossi

Color grading : Jirayu Jangwattanapong

Line producer : Boluny Ros

Partners

CNC, Toulouse Métropole, Fonds Image de la Francophonie, Région Occitanie, Région Pyrénées-Méditerranée, Sundance Institute, IDFA Bertha Fund, DMZ Docs Fund, Fondation Alter-Ciné, la Scam

Residencies / Workshop

Docs by the sea, Tokyo Docs, Marché du film du festival de Cannes

Diffusion

Lyon Capitale TV

Selections & PRIZES

IDFA, Netherlands ; Singapore International Film Festival, Singapore ; Étonnants voyageurs St Malo, France ; Rhodope International Documentary Film Fest, Bulgaria ; Aegean Film Festival, Greece ; What the Doc! International Documentary Film Festival, Thailand ; Euganea Film Festival, Italy ; Tingin Southeast Asian Film Festival, Philippines ; WeWorld Festival Bologna, Italy ; Yogyakarta Documentary Film Festival, Indonesia ; FamilyLens International Film Festival, China ; Taïwan International Documentary Festival, Taiwan

Press

THE FILM VERDICT

« 'Until the Orchid Blooms' is a fine exploration of the battle between modernism and tradition set in a Cambodian community. »