Day Nine
Day started with a bang - Smey had a bike crash! But luckily only sprained his knee. We took him to hospital and then packed him off home while he reigned in a replacement for the day (no-one will EVER replace YOU Smey!).
We went with Thyneon and his tuk-tuk way out to the wilderness of *Peace City 2*, where he and many other evictees from the bulldozed Bassac and Boeung Kak communities were offered their new homes. Past the airport… past the army base…. past a couple of villages and rice fields is Peace Village 2. A barrack-like formation of identical one-room dwellings, a half-empty market, and a garment factory.
We spoke at great length with five residents who’s histories, insights, opinions, and dreams were all very distinctive and vastly diverse. Some feel betrayed and bitter having believed they were moving to the promised land when they left the city on the promise of a free dwelling in the new satellite town, but now find themselves squatting under tarpaulin among bricks and dust, as they didn’t fill in the correct forms. Others believe this is the start of a new community which will grow and develop, and they appreciate the quiet and cleanliness compared to downtown chaos.
Tomorrow we start shooting in this rural-urban no man’s land… Narrative backbone with the big badboy camera courtesy of Mr Moon, stories and segments with the little Kodaks courtesy of our on-location participants… Roll on the morrow (be better sweet Smey)!
