First They Killed My Father (film): Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|2017 Cambodian-American film by Angelina Jolie}}

{{Infobox film

| name = First They Killed My Father

| image = First They Killed My Father.png

| alt =

| caption = Film poster

| director = [[Angelina Jolie]]

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| distributor = [[Netflix]]

| released = {{Film date|2017|02|18|[[Siem Reap]]|2017|09|15|United States}}

| runtime = 136 minutes<ref name=”tifffilmfestifal:First They Killed My Father”>{{cite web|last1=Craddock|first1=Kerri|title=First They Killed My Father|url=http://www.tiff.net/tiff/film.html?v=first-they-killed-my-father|access-date=19 September 2017|date=September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928140233/http://www.tiff.net/tiff/film.html?v=first-they-killed-my-father|archive-date=28 September 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

| runtime = 136 minutes<ref name=”tifffilmfestifal:First They Killed My Father”>{{cite web|last1=Craddock|first1=Kerri|title=First They Killed My Father|url=http://www.tiff.net/tiff/film.html?v=first-they-killed-my-father|access-date=September 2017|date=September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928140233/http://www.tiff.net/tiff/film.html?v=first-they-killed-my-father|archive-date=September 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

| country = {{plainlist|

*Cambodia<ref name=”Variety:Telluride Film Review: ~~‘First~~ They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia ~~Remembers’~~“>{{cite web|last1=Debruge|first1=Peter|title=Telluride Film Review: ‘First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers’|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-review-angelina-jolie-1202545717/|work=Variety|access-date=19 September 2017|date=3 September 2017|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112024851/https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-review-angelina-jolie-1202545717/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=”ScreenDaily: ‘First They Killed My Father’: Toronto Review”>{{cite web|last1=Hunter|first1=Allan|title=”First They Killed My Father”: Toronto Review|url=https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-toronto-review/5122312.article|website=[[Screen International|ScreenDaily]]|access-date=19 September 2017|date=13 September 2017|archive-date=28 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128223332/https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-toronto-review/5122312.article|url-status=live}}</ref>

*Cambodia<ref name=”Variety:Telluride Film Review: They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia “>{{cite web|last1=Debruge|first1=Peter|title=Telluride Film Review: ‘First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers’|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-review-angelina-jolie-1202545717/|work=Variety|access-date=September 2017|date=September 2017|archive-date=November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112024851/https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-review-angelina-jolie-1202545717/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=”ScreenDaily: ‘First They Killed My Father’: Toronto Review”>{{cite web|last1=Hunter|first1=Allan|title=”First They Killed My Father”: Toronto Review|url=https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-toronto-review/5122312.article|website=[[Screen International|ScreenDaily]]|access-date=September 2017|date=September 2017|archive-date=November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128223332/https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-toronto-review/5122312.article|url-status=live}}</ref>

*United States

}}

| language = {{ubl|Khmer<ref name=”The Atlantic: First They Killed My Father Is a Surprising, Devastating Triumph”>{{cite web|last1=Sims|first1=David|title=First They Killed My Father Is a Surprising, Devastating Triumph|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/09/first-they-killed-my-father-is-a-surprising-devastating-triumph/540018/|publisher=The Atlantic|access-date=19 September 2017|date=15 September 2017|archive-date=30 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130191034/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/09/first-they-killed-my-father-is-a-surprising-devastating-triumph/540018/|url-status=live}}</ref>|English|French|Vietnamese|}}

| language = {{ubl|Khmer<ref name=”The Atlantic: First They Killed My Father Is a Surprising, Devastating Triumph”>{{cite web|last1=Sims|first1=David|title=First They Killed My Father Is a Surprising, Devastating Triumph|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/09/first-they-killed-my-father-is-a-surprising-devastating-triumph/540018/|publisher=The Atlantic|access-date=September 2017|date=September 2017|archive-date=November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130191034/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/09/first-they-killed-my-father-is-a-surprising-devastating-triumph/540018/|url-status=live}}</ref>|English|French|Vietnamese|}}

| budget = $22 million<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/angelina-jolie-cambodian-language-first-they-killed-my-father-netflix-1201876858/|title = Angelina Jolie Still Breaks the Rules: Why ‘First They Killed My Father’ is the Movie No Studio Would Make|date = 18 September 2017}}</ref>

| gross =

}}

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==Cast==

*Sreymoch Sareum as Young [[Loung Ung]]

*Kompheak Phoeung as Pa Ung

*Socheta Sveng as Ma

*Mun Kimhak as Kim

*Run Malina as Chou

*Sreyneang Oun as Keav

*[[Tep Rindaro]] as [[Lon Non]]

*Horm Chhora

*Dy Sonita

*[[Loung Ung]] as herself

*[[Tharoth Sam]] as child soldier leader

*[[Reth Tiger]] as Khmer Rouge soldier

*[[Sreyneath Reth]] as Khmer Rouge teacher

The film’s cast is almost entirely Cambodian actors and its dialogue is almost entirely in the [[Khmer language]].

==Production==

On July 23, 2015, it was announced that [[Angelina Jolie]] would direct a film adaptation of the memoir ”[[First They Killed My Father]]” by [[Loung Ung]] for [[Netflix]], for which Jolie and Ung co-wrote the script.<ref name=July2015Deadline>{{cite news|last1=Patten|first1=Dominic|title=Angelina Jolie To Helm ‘First They Killed My Father’ As A Netflix Original Pic|url=https://deadline.com/2015/07/angelina-jolie-netflix-movie-first-they-killed-my-father-cambodia-memoir-1201484348/|access-date=27 July 2015|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=23 July 2015|archive-date=1 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301023037/http://deadline.com/2015/07/angelina-jolie-netflix-movie-first-they-killed-my-father-cambodia-memoir-1201484348/|url-status=live}}</ref> Jolie would also produce the film along with [[Rithy Panh]], while Jolie’s son Maddox Jolie-Pitt would be an executive producer.<ref name=”July2015Deadline” />

On July 23, 2015, it was announced that [[Angelina Jolie]] would direct a film adaptation of the memoir ”[[First They Killed My Father]]” by [[Loung Ung]] for [[Netflix]], for which Jolie and Ung co-wrote the script.<ref name=July2015Deadline>{{cite news|last1=Patten|first1=Dominic|title=Angelina Jolie To Helm ‘First They Killed My Father’ As A Netflix Original Pic|url=https://deadline.com/2015/07/angelina-jolie-netflix-movie-first-they-killed-my-father-cambodia-memoir-1201484348/|access-date=July 2015|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=July 2015|archive-date=March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301023037/http://deadline.com/2015/07/angelina-jolie-netflix-movie-first-they-killed-my-father-cambodia-memoir-1201484348/|url-status=live}}</ref> Jolie would also produce the film along with [[Rithy Panh]], while Jolie’s son Maddox Jolie-Pitt would be an executive producer.<ref name=”July2015Deadline” />

===Filming===

[[Principal photography]] on the film began in early November 2015 in [[Siem Reap]] and wrapped in February 2016 in [[Battambang]], [[Cambodia]]. The filming also took place in [[Phnom Penh]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lew |first1=Josh |title=Angelina Jolie to Start Filming in Cambodia’s Biggest Tourist Attraction |url=https://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/angelina-jolie-to-start-filming-in-cambodias-biggest-tourist-attraction.html |work=[[TravelPulse]] |date=9 November 2015 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |access-date=29 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004234714/https://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/angelina-jolie-to-start-filming-in-cambodias-biggest-tourist-attraction.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Principal photography]] on the film began in early November 2015 in [[Siem Reap]] and wrapped in February 2016 in [[Battambang]], [[Cambodia]]. The filming also took place in [[Phnom Penh]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lew |first1=Josh |title=Angelina Jolie to Start Filming in Cambodia’s Biggest Tourist Attraction |url=https://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/angelina-jolie-to-start-filming-in-cambodias-biggest-tourist-attraction.html |work=[[TravelPulse]] |date=November 2015 |archive-date=October 2022 |access-date=January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004234714/https://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/angelina-jolie-to-start-filming-in-cambodias-biggest-tourist-attraction.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Reception==

===Critical response===

On [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 65 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “”First They Killed My Father” tackles its subject matter with grace, skill, and empathy, offering a ground-level look at historic atrocities that resonates beyond its story’s borders.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/first_they_killed_my_father_a_daughter_of_cambodia_remembers/|title=””First They Killed My Father” (2017)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]]|access-date=16 September 2017|archive-date=28 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828233725/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/first_they_killed_my_father_a_daughter_of_cambodia_remembers|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Metacritic]], another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/first-they-killed-my-father|title=””First They Killed My Father” reviews|website=[[Metacritic]]|publisher=[[CBS Interactive|CBS Interactive Inc.]]|access-date=18 March 2019}}</ref>

On [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 65 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “”First They Killed My Father” tackles its subject matter with grace, skill, and empathy, offering a ground-level look at historic atrocities that resonates beyond its story’s borders.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/first_they_killed_my_father_a_daughter_of_cambodia_remembers/|title=””First They Killed My Father” (2017)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]]|access-date=September 2017|archive-date=August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828233725/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/first_they_killed_my_father_a_daughter_of_cambodia_remembers|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Metacritic]], another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/first-they-killed-my-father|title=””First They Killed My Father” reviews|website=[[Metacritic]]|publisher=[[CBS Interactive|CBS Interactive Inc.]]|access-date=March 2019}}</ref>

[[Matt Zoller Seitz]] of [[RogerEbert.com]] gave the film four out of four stars, stating that it was Jolie’s best work as a director yet, made without any compromise to its “journalistic” storytelling. He noted that “[t]he ace in Jolie’s deck here is the knowledge that a girl as young as Loung can’t comprehend the larger meaning of what’s happening to her, and is therefore unlikely to expend precious emotional energy connecting cause-and-effect dots or lamenting what was lost. It’s an almost entirely experiential movie.”<ref>{{cite web|last1=Seitz|first1=Matt Zoller|author-link1=Matt Zoller Seitz|title=First They Killed My Father Movie Review (2017)|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-2017|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|publisher=Ebert Digital LLC|access-date=18 September 2017|date=15 September 2017|archive-date=18 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918054650/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-2017|url-status=live}}</ref> He later named it the second best film of the year, behind ”[[Lucky (2017 American film)|Lucky]]”, stating that it is “[o]ne of the greatest films about war ever made, as well as one of the best films about childhood…. I can’t imagine a frame of this film being better, only different.”<ref>{{cite web|title=The Individual Top Tens of 2017|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/the-individual-top-tens-of-2017|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|publisher=Ebert Digital LLC|access-date=15 December 2017|date=14 December 2017}}</ref>

[[Matt Zoller Seitz]] of [[RogerEbert.com]] gave the film four out of four stars, stating that it was Jolie’s best work as a director yet, made without any compromise to its “journalistic” storytelling. He noted that “[t]he ace in Jolie’s deck here is the knowledge that a girl as young as Loung can’t comprehend the larger meaning of what’s happening to her, and is therefore unlikely to expend precious emotional energy connecting cause-and-effect dots or lamenting what was lost. It’s an almost entirely experiential movie.”<ref>{{cite web|last1=Seitz|first1=Matt Zoller|author-link1=Matt Zoller Seitz|title=First They Killed My Father Movie Review (2017)|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-2017|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|publisher=Ebert Digital LLC|access-date=September 2017|date=September 2017|archive-date=September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918054650/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/first-they-killed-my-father-2017|url-status=live}}</ref> He later named it the second best film of the year, behind ”[[Lucky (2017 American film)|Lucky]]”, stating that it is “[o]ne of the greatest films about war ever made, as well as one of the best films about childhood…. I can’t imagine a frame of this film being better, only different.”<ref>{{cite web|title=The Individual Top Tens of 2017|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/the-individual-top-tens-of-2017|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|publisher=Ebert Digital LLC|access-date=December 2017|date=December 2017}}</ref>

===Accolades===

The film was selected as the Cambodian entry for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] for the [[90th Academy Awards]], but it was not nominated.<ref name=”Cambodia”>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/asia/cambodia-sets-angelina-jolies-father-as-oscar-contender-1202562419/|title=Cambodia Sets Angelina Jolie’s ‘Father’ as Oscar Contender|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|first=Patrick|last=Frater|date=18 September 2017|access-date=18 September 2017|archive-date=23 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623171928/https://variety.com/2017/film/asia/cambodia-sets-angelina-jolies-father-as-oscar-contender-1202562419/|url-status=live}}</ref> It was the first time a prominent American director’s non-English film was submitted since the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|Academy]] set a rule in 1984 that a country’s submission has “artistic control” from a “creative talent of that country”; Jolie has [[dual citizenship]] with the U.S. and Cambodia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/12/oscars-best-foreign-language-film-news-1202217802/|title=Oscars 2018: Weighing The Early Best Foreign Language Film Race|last=Tartaglione|first=Nancy|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=1 December 2017|access-date=5 December 2017|archive-date=13 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213010311/http://deadline.com/2017/12/oscars-best-foreign-language-film-news-1202217802/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The film was selected as the Cambodian entry for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] for the [[90th Academy Awards]], but it was not nominated.<ref name=”Cambodia”>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/asia/cambodia-sets-angelina-jolies-father-as-oscar-contender-1202562419/|title=Cambodia Sets Angelina Jolie’s ‘Father’ as Oscar Contender|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|first=Patrick|last=Frater|date=September 2017|access-date=September 2017|archive-date=June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623171928/https://variety.com/2017/film/asia/cambodia-sets-angelina-jolies-father-as-oscar-contender-1202562419/|url-status=live}}</ref> It was the first time a prominent American director’s non-English film was submitted since the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|Academy]] set a rule in 1984 that a country’s submission has “artistic control” from a “creative talent of that country”; Jolie has [[dual citizenship]] with the U.S. and Cambodia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/12/oscars-best-foreign-language-film-news-1202217802/|title=Oscars 2018: Weighing The Early Best Foreign Language Film Race|last=Tartaglione|first=Nancy|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=December 2017|access-date=December 2017|archive-date=December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213010311/http://deadline.com/2017/12/oscars-best-foreign-language-film-news-1202217802/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class=”wikitable plainrowheaders sortable”

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| [[British Academy Film Awards]]

| [[71st British Academy Film Awards|18 February 2018]]

| [[71st British Academy Film Awards|February 2018]]

| [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language|Best Film Not in the English Language]]

| [[Angelina Jolie]]

| {{nom}}

|style=”text-align:center;” | <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42618239|title=Bafta Film Awards 2018: All the nominees|work=BBC News|date=9 January 2018|access-date=9 January 2018|archive-date=14 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114101757/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42618239|url-status=live}}</ref>

|style=”text-align:center;” | <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42618239|title=Bafta Film Awards 2018: All the nominees|work=BBC News|date=January 2018|access-date=January 2018|archive-date=January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114101757/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42618239|url-status=live}}</ref>

| rowspan=”1″ | [[Camerimage]]

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| [[Anthony Dod Mantle]]

| {{won}}

|style=”text-align:center;” | <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://camerimage.pl/en/laureaci-camerimage-2017/|title=CAMERIMAGE 2017 WINNERS!|publisher=[[Camerimage]]|access-date=30 November 2017|archive-date=26 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226044722/https://camerimage.pl/en/laureaci-camerimage-2017/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

|style=”text-align:center;” | <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://camerimage.pl/en/laureaci-camerimage-2017/|title=CAMERIMAGE 2017 WINNERS!|publisher=[[Camerimage]]|access-date=November 2017|archive-date=December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226044722/https://camerimage.pl/en/laureaci-camerimage-2017/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

| [[Critics’ Choice Movie Awards]]

| [[23rd Critics’ Choice Awards|11 January 2018]]

| [[23rd Critics’ Choice Awards|January 2018]]

| [[Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]

| rowspan=2 | Angelina Jolie

| {{nominated}}

|style=”text-align:center;” | <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2018-critics-choice-awards-nominations-list-full-1062824|title=Critics’ Choice Awards: ‘The Shape of Water’ Leads With 14 Nominations|last=Kilday|first=Gregg|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|publisher=[[Prometheus Global Media|Prometheus Global Media, LLC]]|date=6 December 2017|access-date=7 December 2017|archive-date=6 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206081807/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2018-critics-choice-awards-nominations-list-full-1062824|url-status=live}}</ref>

|style=”text-align:center;” | <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2018-critics-choice-awards-nominations-list-full-1062824|title=Critics’ Choice Awards: ‘The Shape of Water’ Leads With 14 Nominations|last=Kilday|first=Gregg|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|publisher=[[Prometheus Global Media|Prometheus Global Media, LLC]]|date=December 2017|access-date=December 2017|archive-date=February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206081807/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2018-critics-choice-awards-nominations-list-full-1062824|url-status=live}}</ref>

| [[Golden Globe Award]]s

| [[75th Golden Globe Awards|7 January 2018]]

| [[75th Golden Globe Awards|January 2018]]

| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]

| {{Nominated}}

| rowspan=”1″ style=”text-align:center;”| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/golden-globes-2018-nominees/|title=Golden Globes 2018: The Complete List of Nominees|last=Maglio|first=Tony|work=[[The Wrap]]|date=11 December 2017|access-date=11 December 2017|archive-date=12 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212044430/https://www.thewrap.com/golden-globes-2018-nominees/|url-status=live}}</ref>

| rowspan=”1″ style=”text-align:center;”| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/golden-globes-2018-nominees/|title=Golden Globes 2018: The Complete List of Nominees|last=Maglio|first=Tony|work=[[The Wrap]]|date=December 2017|access-date=December 2017|archive-date=December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212044430/https://www.thewrap.com/golden-globes-2018-nominees/|url-status=live}}</ref>

| rowspan=1 | [[Hollywood Film Awards]]

| rowspan=1 | 5 November 2017

| rowspan=1 | November 2017

| Hollywood Foreign Language Film Award

| [[Loung Ung]], Angelina Jolie

| {{won}}

| rowspan=”1″ style=”text-align:center;”| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2017/11/hollywood-film-awards-scandal-1202202494/ |title=Hollywood Film Awards Steers Away From Scandal And Keeps Its Eye On The Prizes To Winslet, Gyllenhaal, Oldman And More |last=Hammond |first=Pete |work=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=5 November 2017 |access-date=4 December 2017 |archive-date=5 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205194722/http://deadline.com/2017/11/hollywood-film-awards-scandal-1202202494/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

| rowspan=”1″ style=”text-align:center;”| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2017/11/hollywood-film-awards-scandal-1202202494/ |title=Hollywood Film Awards Steers Away From Scandal And Keeps Its Eye On The Prizes To Winslet, Gyllenhaal, Oldman And More |last=Hammond |first=Pete |work=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=November 2017 |access-date=December 2017 |archive-date=December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205194722/http://deadline.com/2017/11/hollywood-film-awards-scandal-1202202494/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

| rowspan=”1″ | [[National Board of Review]]

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| rowspan=”4″ | Angelina Jolie

| {{won}}

|style=”text-align:center;” | <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/2017/ |title=2017 Award Winners |publisher=[[National Board of Review]] |access-date=30 November 2017 |archive-date=5 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005191559/http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/2017/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

|style=”text-align:center;” | <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/2017/ |title=2017 Award Winners |publisher=[[National Board of Review]] |access-date=November 2017 |archive-date=October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005191559/http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/2017/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

| rowspan=”1″ | [[Online Film Critics Society]]

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| [[Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]

| {{nom}}

| rowspan=”1″ style=”text-align:center;”| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/awards-season/269815/get-out-wins-big-at-online-film-critics-society-awards |title=Get Out Wins Big at Online Film Critics Society Awards |author=Staff |work=[[Den of Geek]] |date=28 December 2017 |access-date=30 December 2017 |archive-date=29 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229235002/http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/awards-season/269815/get-out-wins-big-at-online-film-critics-society-awards |url-status=live }}</ref>

| rowspan=”1″ style=”text-align:center;”| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/awards-season/269815/get-out-wins-big-at-online-film-critics-society-awards |title=Get Out Wins Big at Online Film Critics Society Awards |author=Staff |work=[[Den of Geek]] |date=December 2017 |access-date=December 2017 |archive-date=December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229235002/http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/awards-season/269815/get-out-wins-big-at-online-film-critics-society-awards |url-status=live }}</ref>

| [[Satellite Awards]]

| [[22nd Satellite Awards|10 February 2018]]

| [[22nd Satellite Awards|February 2018]]

| [[Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]

| {{nom}}

|style=”text-align:center;” | <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thewrap.com/dunkirk-the-shape-of-water-lead-satellite-award-nominations/ |title=”Dunkirk,” ‘The Shape of Water’ Lead Satellite Award Nominations |last=Pond |first=Steve |work=[[The Wrap]] |date=29 November 2017 |access-date=2 December 2017 |archive-date=13 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213092546/https://www.thewrap.com/dunkirk-the-shape-of-water-lead-satellite-award-nominations/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

|style=”text-align:center;” | <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thewrap.com/dunkirk-the-shape-of-water-lead-satellite-award-nominations/ |title=”Dunkirk,” ‘The Shape of Water’ Lead Satellite Award Nominations |last=Pond |first=Steve |work=[[The Wrap]] |date=November 2017 |access-date=December 2017 |archive-date=December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213092546/https://www.thewrap.com/dunkirk-the-shape-of-water-lead-satellite-award-nominations/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

| rowspan=”1″ | [[Women’s Image Network Awards]]

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| Best Foreign Language Film

| {{nom}}

| rowspan=”1″ style=”text-align:center;”| <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thewinawards.com/mPress.html |title=Women’s Image Network announces its 19th Women’s Image Awards Film and Television Nominees |publisher=[[Women’s Image Network Awards|Women’s Image Network]] |date=10 November 2017 |access-date=5 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206034351/http://www.thewinawards.com/mPress.html |archive-date=6 December 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

| rowspan=”1″ style=”text-align:center;”| <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thewinawards.com/mPress.html |title=Women’s Image Network announces its 19th Women’s Image Awards Film and Television Nominees |publisher=[[Women’s Image Network Awards|Women’s Image Network]] |date=November 2017 |access-date=December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206034351/http://www.thewinawards.com/mPress.html |archive-date=December 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==

*[[List of submissions to the 90th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film]]

*[[List of Cambodian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]]

==References==

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==External links==

*{{IMDb title|4882376}}

*{{Metacritic film}}

*{{Rotten Tomatoes|first_they_killed_my_father}}

2017 Cambodian-American film by Angelina Jolie

First They Killed My Father (Khmer: មុនដំបូងខ្មែរក្រហមសម្លាប់ប៉ារបស់ខ្ញុំ, Mŭn Dâmbong Khmêr Krâhâm Sâmloăb Pa Rôbás Khnhŭm; lit. ‘First The Khmer Rouge Killed My Father‘) is a 2017 Khmer-language biographical thriller film directed by Angelina Jolie and written by Jolie and Loung Ung. The film is based on Ung’s eponymous memoir. Set in 1975, the film depicts 5-year-old Loung, who is forced to train as a child soldier while her siblings are sent to labor camps during the Khmer Rouge regime.

The film was screened at the Telluride Film Festival and 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released worldwide on Netflix on September 15, 2017, to positive critical reception.

In 1975 Khmer Republic, Loung Ung is the five-year-old daughter of an officer of the Khmer National Armed Forces, known as “Pa” to his seven children. During the Vietnam War, the fighting spills over into neighboring Cambodia when the United States military begins bombing North Vietnamese forces attempting to shelter in the neutral territory, commencing the Cambodian Civil War. The U.S. then pulls out of Cambodia and evacuates its embassy.

The Khmer Rouge draws closer, captures Phnom Penh, and then forces all families to leave the city as refugees, under the pretext that it will be bombed by Americans. Pa Ung denies working for the government when questioned by the Khmer Rouge soldiers, knowing that he will be killed if discovered. The family is found by “Uncle” (Loung’s maternal uncle), Pa’s brother-in-law, and Loung’s family stays with Uncle’s family for some time. However, at the insistence of Aunt, who fears the consequences if Pa’s identity is discovered, Loung’s family has to leave.

After days of travel, they are captured by Khmer Rouge soldiers and taken with other refugees to a labor camp, where they have to build their own shelter and are forced to work under harsh conditions. Their possessions are confiscated, food is scarce as all crops are sent to fighting units, and any attempt to get more food is punished with merciless beatings. Loung is a witness to her siblings’ merciless beatings as they try to get more food for themselves and their families.

Aside from hard work, the camp preaches the regime propaganda, and any foreign items (including life-saving medicine) are forbidden and carry the death penalty. Loung’s two oldest brothers and oldest sister Keav are reassigned to other camps, and soon afterward Keav dies from dysentery.

One day Loung sees Pa taken away by the Khmer Rouge officials to repair a bridge. Knowing what awaits him, he says goodbye to his wife and children. Later on, Loung has a nightmare in which she sees him executed and buried in a mass grave. Soon afterward, Ma tells Loung, her older brother Kim, and her older sister Chou to flee in different directions and seek new working camps under false identities as orphans. Loung and her sister separate from their brother and reach another camp.

There, Loung is recruited to be a child soldier for the Khmer Rouge; The Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge have been locked in border skirmishes with each other. Loung learns hand-to-hand combat, shooting, and preparation of traps, and works on laying mine fields against the Vietnamese. Children are constantly taught propaganda and bitter hatred of the Vietnamese, but they get more food and are treated better than workers in the labor camps. One day, Loung gets a pass to visit her sister in the labor camp, but instead, she travels to the camp where her mother and youngest sister are left behind. She finds their hut empty and an old woman tells her that her family was taken away by the Khmer Rouge soldiers. That night Loung dreams about her mother lying dead in a mass grave with her youngest sister Geak being executed.

Loung’s camp is destroyed by Vietnamese shelling, forcing her to flee along with other civilians. On the road, she reunites with Chou and Kim who stay for a night in a temporary refugee camp managed by Vietnamese troops, where the siblings join a group of children. As the camp is attacked by Khmer Rouge forces the next morning, they slip behind the defending Vietnamese to escape the fighting into the jungle. There Loung is separated from her siblings and witnesses other refugees killed and maimed by the mines that she herself helped set.

The three siblings are reunited in another refugee camp run by the Red Cross. There Loung sees people beating a captured Khmer Rouge soldier. She sees him as her father and flashes back to the violence in her life. As the war ends, Loung along with her siblings Kim and Chou are reunited with their older brothers who also survived the camps. The movie ends with the adult Loung and her siblings praying with the monks for their lost family members in the ruins of a Buddhist temple.

The film’s cast is almost entirely Cambodian actors and its dialogue is almost entirely in the Khmer language.

On July 23, 2015, it was announced that Angelina Jolie would direct a film adaptation of the memoir First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung for Netflix, for which Jolie and Ung co-wrote the script.^[6] Jolie would also produce the film along with Rithy Panh, while Jolie’s son Maddox Jolie-Pitt would be an executive producer.^[6]

Principal photography on the film began in early November 2015 in Siem Reap and wrapped in February 2016 in Battambang, Cambodia. The filming also took place in Phnom Penh.^[7]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 65 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “First They Killed My Father tackles its subject matter with grace, skill, and empathy, offering a ground-level look at historic atrocities that resonates beyond its story’s borders.”^[8] Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.^[9]

Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film four out of four stars, stating that it was Jolie’s best work as a director yet, made without any compromise to its “journalistic” storytelling. He noted that “[t]he ace in Jolie’s deck here is the knowledge that a girl as young as Loung can’t comprehend the larger meaning of what’s happening to her, and is therefore unlikely to expend precious emotional energy connecting cause-and-effect dots or lamenting what was lost. It’s an almost entirely experiential movie.”^[10] He later named it the second best film of the year, behind Lucky, stating that it is “[o]ne of the greatest films about war ever made, as well as one of the best films about childhood…. I can’t imagine a frame of this film being better, only different.”^[11]

The film was selected as the Cambodian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the 90th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.^[12] It was the first time a prominent American director’s non-English film was submitted since the Academy set a rule in 1984 that a country’s submission has “artistic control” from a “creative talent of that country”; Jolie has dual citizenship with the U.S. and Cambodia.^[13]

^ Craddock, Kerri (September 2017). “First They Killed My Father”. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
^ Debruge, Peter (September 3, 2017). “Telluride Film Review: ‘First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers’“. Variety. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
^ Hunter, Allan (September 13, 2017). “‘First They Killed My Father’: Toronto Review”. ScreenDaily. Archived from the original on November 28, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
^ Sims, David (September 15, 2017). “First They Killed My Father Is a Surprising, Devastating Triumph”. The Atlantic. Archived from the original on November 30, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
^ “Angelina Jolie Still Breaks the Rules: Why ‘First They Killed My Father’ is the Movie No Studio Would Make”. September 18, 2017.
^ ^a ^b Patten, Dominic (July 23, 2015). “Angelina Jolie To Helm ‘First They Killed My Father’ As A Netflix Original Pic”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
^ Lew, Josh (November 9, 2015). “Angelina Jolie to Start Filming in Cambodia’s Biggest Tourist Attraction”. TravelPulse. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
^ “First They Killed My Father (2017)”. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
^ “First They Killed My Father reviews”. Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
^ Seitz, Matt Zoller (September 15, 2017). “First They Killed My Father Movie Review (2017)”. RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
^ “The Individual Top Tens of 2017”. RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
^ Frater, Patrick (September 18, 2017). “Cambodia Sets Angelina Jolie’s ‘Father’ as Oscar Contender”. Variety. Archived from the original on June 23, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
^ Tartaglione, Nancy (December 1, 2017). “Oscars 2018: Weighing The Early Best Foreign Language Film Race”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
^ “Bafta Film Awards 2018: All the nominees”. BBC News. January 9, 2018. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
^ “CAMERIMAGE 2017 WINNERS!”. Camerimage. Archived from the original on December 26, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
^ Kilday, Gregg (December 6, 2017). “Critics’ Choice Awards: ‘The Shape of Water’ Leads With 14 Nominations”. The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media, LLC. Archived from the original on February 6, 2018. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
^ Maglio, Tony (December 11, 2017). “Golden Globes 2018: The Complete List of Nominees”. The Wrap. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
^ Hammond, Pete (November 5, 2017). “Hollywood Film Awards Steers Away From Scandal And Keeps Its Eye On The Prizes To Winslet, Gyllenhaal, Oldman And More”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
^ “2017 Award Winners”. National Board of Review. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
^ Staff (December 28, 2017). “Get Out Wins Big at Online Film Critics Society Awards”. Den of Geek. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
^ Pond, Steve (November 29, 2017). “‘Dunkirk,’ ‘The Shape of Water’ Lead Satellite Award Nominations”. The Wrap. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
^ “Women’s Image Network announces its 19th Women’s Image Awards Film and Television Nominees”. Women’s Image Network. November 10, 2017. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.

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