BREATHING KHMER 

Synopsis
Discussion Guide
Partner Organizations
10 Things to Know
Resources
Meet the Filmmakers
Documentary for Health & Social Justice

Synopsis

BREATHING KHMER follows a small group of Cambodian Buddhists in San Francisco, who attend the Nagara Dhamma Temple. The film reveals their stories of survival from the Khmer Rouge holocaust and how cultural unity and Buddhism brings healing to their lives. The Temple is a unique space where people feel they are amongst their family, where they are able to speak the Khmer language and are able to teach the youth about Cambodian culture, religion and tradition through festivals, and offerings and a rich temple life. Told through the voices of three temple menbers and a head monk, BREATHING KHMER is an invitation to explore how religion and community foster well-being.

 

Discussion Guide

This discussion guide provides questions to foster dialogue about how Buddhism, community and culture can heal the wounds of the past.

THEMES 

• Cambodian Refugees
• Social Support and Healing
• Buddhism

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Jessica explains: "The way I raise her and want her to know how Cambodian people is. That is why I bring her to the temple on full moon, on Sunday, whenever she has no school."

• What is your impression of Jessica and Angelica's experience of the temple? 
• Their relationship? 
• What they gain by attending?

Dan says he was sad when the family was losing their language and culture, then he decided to move to San Francisco.

• Why did Dan move his family to San Francisco? 
• What did he find in San Francisco?

Supeab says, "People chanting about respect to Buddha, they pray about Buddha value and they pray about good thing come to their life."  He also says that people who live here have suffered in their life, some have no one with them, the temple treats their disease.

• What issue or wound does he speak about? How does this wound relate to all of us?
• What is your impression of the significance of Buddhism with this Cambodian community?
• What are the values of community?

This film speaks of Cambodian refugees in particular, what parallels can you see from other cultures?

What kind of social support networks do you seek out?

What else can be done to support refugee communities in the U.S.?

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Partner Organizations

BREATHING KMER was created in partnership with the following community organizations: 

• The Nagara Dhamma Temple

• The Nagara Temple is a Cambodian Buddhist Temple. They are a center for Cambodian community Buddhist events. The events that are celebrated in the temple include full moon ceremonies, feasts, and even funerals. All rituals follow the Cambodian Calendar. Their Abbot (head monk) is named Ven. Phra Sompot Sripromthong, and there are five monks total living in the temple.
• The Buddhist Peace Fellowship

• The Buddhist Peace Fellowship, founded in 1978, is at an international level, a fiscal sponsor for organizations that work for peace, social justice and human rights. The collaborative organizations that work with BPF include diverse organizations that follow Buddhist precepts of mindfulness and social activism known as engaged Buddhism. Buddhism is originally a sitting practice of meditation as well as a religious practice, but through this fellowship individuals as part of a group (sangha) that practice together, can come together to speak forth as a political act for peace and justice issues.

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10 Things to Know

 

• The majority of Cambodians practice Theravada Buddhism, which came from India to Cambodia in the 13th and 14th century.
• According to statistic 96 % of people who live in Cambodia identify as Khmer, making it, one of the most homogenous countries in South East Asia. Khmer is also the main language spoken in Cambodia.
• The Khmer Rouge (or Red Khmer) was a group of Cambodian Communists led by Pol Pot. Between 1970 and 1975 the Khmer Rouge forces, waged a war to overthrow the U.S. supported government of Lon Nol.
• In 1975 The Khmer Rouge completely restructured society based on extreme interpretations of Maoist ideology. After entering the capital Phnom Penh the entire population was forced to march into the countryside to be reeducated, and work in collective farms and labor camps. Soon after religious and cultural practices were forbidden, and upwards of two million Cambodians would perished due to torture, starvation and murder.
• Nearly two-thirds of the adults studied in the largest Cambodian refugee community in Long Beach California suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the Khmer Rouge genocide and civil war.
• According to the 2000 Census there are 171, 937 Cambodians living in the United States. California has the highest population with approximately 70,000 living in the state. The majority of Cambodians in the U.S. came as refugees between 1979 and 1989.
• Buddhism and practices such as meditation are a way of developing awareness, understanding, compassion and community mindfulness.
• One very important aspect of Cambodian society and community is family. Besides those in the traditional nuclear family this may include grandmothers, grandfathers, elders, aunts, uncles cousins, nephews and distant relatives.
• Buddhist monks in Cambodia and the U.S. are called upon to perform a number of functions in Khmer life. They participate in festivals, ceremonies, marriages, and funerals. They may also participate in ceremonies to name infants.
• In the most recent census, the Cambodian population in the United States was estimated at 217,500 and the Bay Area holds the fourth largest concentration of Cambodian Americans; an estimated 10,500 Cambodians live here.

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Resources

• First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
  Loung Ung's story moves from the deaths of her family members to the forced separation of the survivors to reunions and eventual immigrations.

• THE FLUTE PLAYER is a documentary film about the life and work of Cambodian genocide survivor Arn Chorn-Pond. Pond was a boy when the Khmer Rouge took over in 1975. For four years, Pond followed the strict orders of the Khmer Rouge doing whatever it took to save his own life amidst torture, murder, starvation and brainwashing.

• SAMSARA by film director Ellen Bruno documents the struggle of the Cambodian people to rebuild a shattered society in a climate of war and with limited resources. Ancient prophecy Buddhist teachings, and folklore provide a context for understanding the Cambodian tragedy, bringing a humanistic perspective to a country in deep political turmoil.

• The Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI) is a grassroots, non-profit organization founded in 2005 by a small group of bilingual mental health professionals. The center provides mental health and other social services to refugee and immigrant families. Most of their clients are Cambodian and Afghan refugees living in the Bay area.

• The Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Temple is a great resource in the East Bay that provides youth programs such as mentoring, tutoring, Cambodian lessons And Khmer traditional dance as well as parenting support. (510) 533-8994

• Cambodian Living Arts

• Cambodian Alliance for the Arts

• Cambodian Education Network in the Bay Area

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Meet the Filmmakers

MICHAEL ABELA

• Michael Abela is a young filmmaker who is originally from the town of Sonoma, California. He has been studying filmmaking for 8 years, since the age of 14, and is currently a senior at San Francisco State University.
  Abela's full time job is freelance filmmaking. He writes, directs, shoots and edits many of his productions and mainly focuses on music videos and documentaries. He has produced over 20 music videos, with mostly Jamaican musicians, as his main niche in this genre is Reggae. He has also produced a large handful of promotional videos for non-profit organizations, schools, and educational programs.
  
  His main goal is to travel the globe and document culture through the art of filmmaking. The reason for this is that his other true passions, besides filmmaking, are cultural anthropology and traveling, as he is obsessed with the many ways people live their lives on our planet. He comes from a holistic mindset, and believes that diversity is what makes life so special. What gets him up in the morning is the thought of filming while hanging off of an elephant or motorcycle halfway around the world.
  
  Thusly, producing a documentary in Cine 527 regarding mindfulness, Buddhism, and Cambodia seem right up his ally. This type of material is what keeps him set on his goals, and inspires him to progress further within his industry. Michael is extremely thankful of having the opportunity to collaborate with his teammates on such engaging subject matter within this course.

 

LUNA HERNANDEZ

• Luna's passion for documentary film work comes from her experience that positive media will reach audiences for conscious awareness. Her hope is to raise the bar of critical awareness and empowering communities through conscious film and music. In the past 5 years she has travelled to Nepal, and India studying Buddhism and Hindu religious practices and meditation with monks, priests and nuns. She has volunteered with Tibetan refugee women, living in India. She has completed her Master's degree in Public Health. Her undergraduate degree is in Psychology. Luna is currently in holistic healing, mind-body-spirit medicine; acupressure, and also a certified yoga teacher. She is currently working in an intensive meditation program for energetic healing for internalized trauma of individuals and communities. Luna has extensive experience working with diverse communities around the world.

 

MATT VAN SAUN

• Matthew Van Saun is a student studying health education at San Francisco State University and a freelance photographer based out of the Bay Area. A solo-backpacking trip to Laos in 2005 sparked his interest in photography, photojournalism and most recently documentary filmmaking. Since that first adventure in Laos he has traveled extensively in Southeast Asia returning for six months in 2006. During this trip he had the opportunity to volunteer as mentor and tutor for children who are multiple amputees and survivors of the Cambodian civil war. Matthew has a passion for human rights and social justice work. He was a Volunteer area coordinator for Amnesty international. As an area coordinator he assisted Muslim immigrants in the Bay Area. He also completed a six-month internship for his Community Health Worker Certificate program with the Refugee Medical clinic in San Francisco.
  
  It's his passion for immigrant rights, refugee issues and health education that help shape his photography. This is evident in the photo essays he has created in diverse locations such as Thailand, Cambodia and Bolivia.
  His main theme through out his work is to expose human rights issues to the public by creating photo essays and film documentaries that are emotional and thought provoking. In this way he feels he can give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves.
  
  http://matthewvansaunphotography.com/
  http://www.demotix.com/users/matt/profile
  

   

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