Cambodia coming to Stockton silver screen again

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“Two Shadows” filmmaker Greg Cahill, left, and Stockton resident Sombo Chet will bring “Two Shadows” to town Saturday. The film tells the story of a Cambodian-American woman traveling to her ancestral homeland, a journey Chet soon will make herself in real life.

Courtesy photos

 By Lori Gilbert

Record Staff Writer

August 10, 2012

Sombo Chet has checked the top two items off her bucket list - paying off her car and owning her own home - and come January will reach No. 3 when she visits Cambodia, the homeland of her parents.

The 28-year-old Stockton woman who was born in a refugee camp in the Philippines will travel in January to the land of her ancestors, but for those unable to make such a trip, Chet, for the second consecutive year, will bring a taste of Cambodia to Stockton.

A year after showing "Rice Field of Dreams," Chet has arranged for filmmaker Greg Cahill to screen "Two Shadows." The film is about a Cambodian-American woman who travels to her birthplace after receiving a letter from Cambodia claiming her long-lost brother and sister, who disappeared during the civil war 20 years earlier, are still alive. The movie will be shown at 7:45 p.m. Saturday at the Empire Theatre in Stockton. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children. Cahill and cast members, including actress Sophea Pel, who plays the lead role of Sovanna, will participate in a question-and-answer session after the film.

"Two Shadows"

What: Film shot in Cambodia by Greg Cahill, starring Sophea Pel as a woman who travels to her birthplace after receiving a letter from Cambodia claiming that her long-lost brother and sister are still alive. Her journey is not only filled with danger, but is one of self-discovery. The film is followed by a question-and-answer session with Cahill, Pel and other actors.

When: 7:45 p.m. Saturday

Where: Stockton Empire Theatre, 1825 Pacific Ave., Stockton

Admission: $10, $5 children, available at the door or in advance at (209) 598-3378 or sombochet@gmail.com.

"I believe in paying it forward," said Chet, who is creating a nonprofit organization called GuyCambo with a Guyanese friend to provide as-yet-undefined aid to their two native countries. "Bringing a second film is keeping the momentum going and helping my organization. I'm getting connected with the right people. I'm putting myself out there. I didn't mean to meet the director, Greg Cahill. It just happened for a reason."

Chet met Cahill at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and, touched by the story, which is based on true events, convinced him to bring his movie to Stockton.

"She's Cambodian-American like me and she's going to Cambodia for the first time," Chet said. "I understand. You don't know what's going to happen. ... She came to America for a better life after what happened to everybody's families, the separation because of genocide. It's something someone out there can relate to, not my immediate family, but someone out there will. We can't forget the past. We need to know where we come from."

Knowledge of the past isn't easy to come by, Chet said. Her mom is hesitant to speak of it.

"Nobody talks about anything positive, anything about the past," Chet said. "People my age have questions, and little by little, pieces are coming out."

The film industry hasn't been particularly forthcoming with stories of Cambodia, but when Cahill saw the 2002 Matt Dillon film "City of Ghosts," one of the first Hollywood films to be shot in Cambodia, he was hooked.

"It had such an impact; the music in the film had such an impact on me," Cahill said.

The soundtrack featured a female Cambodian rock singer named Ros Sereysothea, who died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, along with other singers of that era. Cahill's research took him to Cambodia, where he fell in love with what he saw.

"On a more superficial level, it's visually stunning, the natural scenery and ancient and contemporary temples, the villages, the rivers," said Cahill, who grew up in Boston and attended New York University film school.

"The No. 1 thing I walked away with is the way everyone is friendly. The striking thing is everyone has an incredible story given the tumultuous history of the last 30, 40 years. Everybody, every family was affected by the civil war, the Khmer Rouge. There's an abundance of stories."

Hollywood, though, is content to crank out money-making action blockbusters and popular sequels rather than character-driven stories, said Cahill, who has worked on such mainstream hits as the television series "Medium" and "Mad Men." Cahill stretched the bounds of film subjects by making "The Golden Voice," a short film about Sereysothea that he's now working to develop into a feature-length movie, and "Two Shadows."

"One of the issues I have with a lot of Americans is, to them, Cambodia is synonymous with one thing, the killing fields," Cahill said. "That was 30 years ago. What happened after that, to the refugees, the families who were broken up? There's never a follow-up. That's what this film attempts: how it affected people 30 years later. It's about a girl who finds out her brother and sister she thought were dead since she left Cambodia, there's a possibility they may be alive. She goes to look for them. It's a common thing with Cambodian-Americans. A lot of them are missing family members they have no idea what happened to."

If his film lacks the universal appeal of the latest "Batman" or "Harry Potter" movie, Cahill doesn't mind.

"As a filmmaker, I don't know if I would want to make popcorn entertainment," Cahill said. "It's great, and I love it, but at the same time, filmmaking can tell more important stories."

Contact reporter Lori Gilbert at (209) 546-8284 or lgilbert@recordnet.com.