A Psychiatrist struggles to defeat superstitions and old beliefs when a disgraced traditional healer threatens to tear his world apart.
WHAT IS THE STORY?
A traditional healer in a Cambodian village uses stern methods to treat the mentally ill. He gets humiliated and locked up when a Psychiatrist from the city intervenes and proves him wrong. Having lost all respect and hungry for revenge, the Healer tracks down the Psychiatrist and stalks his family. The Healer breaks into the Psychiatrist’s house every night and the family wakes up to a disturbing surprise each morning. Strange events happening in the house start to disintegrate the happy family. Things get even more complicated as the Psychiatrist’s wife is a strong believer of superstitions. Sanity is challenged as the Healer’s cruel games pushes everyone in the family towards the edge.
WHY THIS CONCEPT?
I came across the topic of mental health in Cambodia while making short documentary videos for NGOs. Locking and chaining people up with mental problems is a common practice in rural areas that lack clinics and hospitals.
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It is a complicated situation as the country tries to put behind its dark past, yet the resources are very few for those suffering from the traumatic events during and after Khmer Rouge. After conversations with a few professionals in the field of mental health, I decided to create a story revolving around a Psychiatrist. After one year of research and months of brainstorming with the co-writer, Michael Hodgson, we came up with a script.
HOW MUCH OF THE FILM IS DONE?
The shooting of the film was finished in October after 4 months of pre-production. We worked with a cast and crew that was all Cambodian, except for me and my Cinematographer.
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The actors gave a performance that was way beyond expectations, and the film is coming to life and is in editing stage currently.
WHAT ARE WE RAISING FUNDS FOR?
We need your help to cover the costs of post-production of the film to achieve professional standards in terms of Sound Design and Mixing, and Color Correction. The funds will also go towards creating background scores with the band Krom Monster that has several local musicians from Cambodia Living Arts who play traditional Khmer instruments as David Gunn mixes them with ambient music. The funds will really help us in making the film achieve the look and sound of a professional quality. The funds will also be used to send the movie out to various film festivals, local and international.
WHO AM I?
DIRECTOR: Amit Dubey (amit-dubey.com): I grew up in a small town in South India, and moved to the US for college. After 12 years in the US, I left my Software Engineer job, and came to Cambodia in 2010. I fell in love with this country, and decided to follow my passion in filmmaking. I made a few short films that were shown in various film festivals locally and internationally. With the support of five of my friends and my sister who believed in the project, I was able to finish the shooting of Mind Cage.
Filmography:
Smothered - Official Selection - Asians on Film Los Angeles, Delhi Intl Short Film Fest, IMA Intl Film Fest, Pune Intl Short Fest, Bolgatty Intl Fest, Pink City Intl Film Fest, Advantage India Film Fest.
Broken - Official selection - Los Angeles Asian American Film Fest, San Francisco Intl South Asian Film Fest, Camodia Intl Film Fest, Tampere Intl Film Fest, Cinematic Arts Fest of Los Angeles, IndiEarth Film Fest India, Tissa Intl Film Fest Morocco
Afterlife - IndiEarth Film Fest India
ACTORS:
Ruos Mony - Mony was recently awarded “Actor of the Year” in Cambodia Intl Film Festival. His previous film “Ruin” in which he played the Lead, won the Special Jury prize in Venice Film Festival.
Sveng Socheata - Socheata is an incredible actor who was very famous in the local film industry. After a break of several years she makes her comeback with Mind Cage. She was recently signed up for one of the main roles in Angleina Jolie’s upcoming Cambodian Film “First they killed my Father”.
Press Coverage for the film:
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/archives/human-scary-97004/
