The main practice facility at Phare Ponleu Selpak

Current students and graduates in Phare's circus school perform several times each week for hundreds of foreign travelers and locals inside the school's circus tent. The students have developed amazing abilities and have travelled overseas to perform. Thanks to their training, they can earn a decent living from doing what they love. 

If it wasn't for Phare, many of these students would likely be sweating it out in a factory for just a few dollars a day, or maybe worse. There is little opportunity for the village youth of Cambodia and some turn to drugs, crime or prostitution. The aim of this film is to show that with the right intention, dedication and positive energy, anything is possible – even in a place like Cambodia, which has faced extreme hardship in the recent past.

This feature-length film will detail the school's magical story and how it offers its students an extraordinary chance to become shining stars.

Phare Ponleu Selpak's back story

The film will also explore Phare's history as well. The school was founded in 1994 by a group of young Cambodians who originally met as children in a refugee camp in Thailand during the 1970s and 80s. They were in a camp in order to escape the guerrilla civil war raging in Cambodia following the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge reign of terror. 

In the camp’s harsh conditions, a dedicated French volunteer mentored Phare's co-founders, who taught them how to paint and draw and express themselves creatively.

The young friends vowed that one day they would start an arts school in the town of Battambang, a creative hub for traditional arts and culture before the Khmer Rouge regime, which targeted and killed artists and intellectuals specifically in this region after seizing power in 1975. 

Phare students performing a show depicting the Khmer Rouge atrocities 

Today, Phare is making a profound difference in this community, especially for the most vulnerable. Besides providing education and training, the school has revitalized the arts scene back in the community.

I have the school's support on this documentary film and full access has been granted to be with the students and their families in order to learn about their lives.

Dreams of Cirque du Soleil 

Sopha Nem and Dina Sok are two phenomenal teenage circus students from Phare. With great administrative assistance from Phare, they were accepted into the prestigious National Circus School of Montreal in 2011, where they are training now. Sopha and Dina have adjusted to a completely different foreign environment, they've learned French, and they are excelling in the school's advanced circus program. Their lives and progress will be featured extensively in the film, and the viewers of the film will get to know their families back in Battambang.

Sopha and Dina in Montreal

Sopha and Dina dream of performing with Cirque du Soleil, also based in Montreal, and Cirque du Soleil is a major donor to the National Circus School of Montreal. Many graduates of the National Circus School of Montreal go on to work with Cirque du Soleil and other top tier circus companies around the world, and if Sopha and Dina eventually manage to land a job with Cirque de Soleil, or another big circus, it will undoubtedly have a massive impact on their families and community back home. 

I have also taken lots of footage of Sopha and Dina in Montreal to explore their personalities and their experiences. The film will follow Sopha and Dina's lives as their careers take off.

Inspirational Impact

This is a story about a dream and vision inspired by art, creativity and passion. This film will show how the human spirit with the right determination and passion can blossom even in very difficult social conditions.

My goal is to reach a wide audience with this film so people can better understand how important arts and creativity are for education and for making a difference in our lives.

Overall scope of film