Cambodian-American filmmaker, Caylee So, says that her film, In the Life of Music is about “how music can connect us all.” Her goal is for the film is to find a wider audience, although the film has already received several awards at a variety of film festivals worldwide. See the NYC Premiere of ‘In The Life of Music’ on Monday February 18 2019, in the 12:00pm – 2:30pm block at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street) as part of New York City’s 8th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival. Winter Film Awards’ Cristina Slattery recently spoke with Caylee So about the film.
So and her team spent one year writing the film, four months in pre-production and production, and a year and a half editing the movie. The idea for the film, So says, came out of a second trip to Cambodia that she had taken with a friend. However, it seems that the film has potentially been part of her life for longer. So writes in response to a question I ask her via email that “unknowingly, growing up, I’ve always felt a little displaced whenever I’m in a room or crowd full of people. It was probably a sentiment that my parents always felt but could never find a way to voice. They lost their families, their homes, their country, and a sense of identity in the Khmer Rouge genocide; that sadness never truly left them and I feel that I carried some of that ghost into all of my works.” Sadly, So’s mother passed away when So was twenty-two and the filmmaker states that not having her mom present for major moments in So’s own life has been one of the greatest challenges she has faced.
“Patience, team work, and hard work,” So says will get a person through all things. Perhaps not the Khmer Rouge genocide though. This national trauma is depicted in the middle part of “In the Life of Music” and the characters that had previously been falling in love at a concert in the countryside years earlier as teenagers, are now wearing the regime-issued scarves and dirt-colored clothing. Although the Khmer Rouge period is present in the film, So and her team did not want it to be the only focus. The 1968 segment and the 2007 visit by Hope, a Cambodian-American who, in some ways, represents So herself, are brighter moments that depict the everyday joys and challenges of the characters. Music is a constant throughout the film and a song by Sinn Sisamouth, Cambodia’s ‘Elvis’ is included in the film at different key moments throughout the decades depicted. The actors in the film were almost all recruited in Cambodia and most had limited acting experience, but this is not evident from their performances.
Phally and Bopha, two of the main characters in the film, are friends in the beginning of the film and their friendship exists at the end of the film. The world of their youth, however, had been destroyed and only vestiges of that past remain as the film comes to a close. A song contains memories for both those characters and others and even if its writer is no longer living, the melody and lyrics he created live on in the people who hear his song. This simple fact is underscored throughout the film and provides hope, in a way, for the future.
So says that her time in the military, in fact, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2005, was helpful in moving her forward along her path as a filmmaker. “I had watched Million Dollar Baby during a break in between one of our missions,” she explains. “I had cried so hard for the character of Maggie and her journey that I forgot I was in the middle of a war zone. It struck me then that it must be such a privilege to be able to do that: transport people into different worlds and different lives, different spaces and time. It was like a light turned on in me. If I returned home, I knew that I had to give directing and storytelling a try.”
Although this independent film might not be right for all audiences since it depicts the violence of a brutal regime, those who do come to see In the Life of Music will surely come away moved – and be grateful that Caylee So pursued her passion to tell stories.
Cristina Slattery
Cristina Slattery has written for publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek Japan, Forbes Travel Guide, Harvardwood Highlights, Roads & Kingdoms, The Winter Film Festival, FoodandWine.com, Words Without Borders, AFAR.com, Travel+Leisure.com, several airline magazines and other national and international magazines and websites.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 8th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 14-23-2019. Check out a jam-packed lineup of 89 fantastic films in all genres from 32 countries, including shorts, featuers, Animation, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Documentary and Music Video. Hollywood might ignore women and people of color, but Winter Film Awards celebrates everyone!
Winter Film Awards is an all volunteer, minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the NY State Council on the Arts.
