Lame excuse

Ouch Savy appeared but only on a short video clip

What a disappointment the Joop evening turned out to be, at Meta House tonight. Chapei musician Ouch Savy, the main reason for my attendance, was nowhere to be seen in person and a lame excuse for her absence was given as an afterthought by the organisers. Instead, an eclectic assortment of video, Khmer poetry and rap included a brief appearance by Savy as well as her master tutor, Kong Nay, on video. The main thrust of the night was a film, When the rivers run backwards, by Julien Poulson and Justin Foster who combined images of Phnom Penh with differing music styles - though, as they pointed out, it was a very rough-cut version. The most enjoyable video on show was a rap by Dang Kosal, formerly on the staff at Meta House and one of the bodyguards in the musical Where Elephants Weep, who was introduced by his rap moniker, MC Curly. Looks like rap and a cap worn at an angle will be the next time we see Kosal in the public eye. I went away disappointed that I still haven't seen Ouch Savy live.

MC Curly, better known to me as Dang Kosal, raps it up on video

Disappointed

One of the photos from the NGO Daughters exhibition at Meta House

I watched the feature film Holly for the first time tonight at Meta House. I wasn't blown away by it I must admit, it was pretty lame stuff focusing on the trafficking of a young girl through Svay Pak, the former notorious K-11 area outside of Phnom Penh. It wasn't a film that I would particularly recommend or watch again, aside from spotting Dang Kosal as a young garbage-collector who later spits in the face of the lead man. Kosal more recently played one of the tough guys in the musical Where Elephants Weep and used to work at Meta House. Nice guy. As for the film, it didn't really punch as hard as I was expecting and was pretty predictable and cliched. I hear on the grapevine that it cost an absolute mint to make and from a personal point of view, disappointed me to the level that City of Ghosts did. I don't need to keep seeing the seedier side of this country portrayed on the big screen, but if I do, it needs to grab me by the lapels and make me take notice. Holly didn't. As a precursor to Holly, Nico from Meta House screened his own work-in-progress Sold Out! documentary about trafficking. Whilst at Meta House I had a look at the Daughters photographic exhibition, where former victims of trafficking have turned their lives around and display their artistic talents in the Mezzanine Room. Tomorrow is the start of The Building exhibition at Bophana which will include photos and film screenings over the next few weeks. Well worth checking out by the look of it.

Members of one of the NGOs that help trafficked women have an exhibition of photos at Meta House right now