First They Killed My Father

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EXT. PHNOM PENH APARTMENT BALCONY - DAY

April 1975

We are inside a POV. Walking towards a balcony.

We pass a TV where news about the Vietnam war coming to an

end is playing. We see a reflection in the television. We see

our reflection. A little girl. LOUNG. The news then shows the

evacuation of the American embassy in Phnom Penh Cambodia. A

Helicopter takes off from the embassy. The little girl turns

and walks toward a view not dissimilar to the one near the

American embassy on the news.

Little caramel colored legs and feet on a balcony. The edge

of a skirt in the wind identifies the child as a little girl.

She begins to climb to the top of the railing. Her little

hands and feet. The sound of a helicopter coming towards her.

Finally she reaches the top. She watches as a helicopter

almost identical to the one on the television flies low over

her head. This brave free spirited little girl is LOUNG. At

five she stands looking out over city from the third floor.

Her POV of her feet. Toes wiggling. The city below.

The streets are mostly empty except for a few street vendors.

Some shops are closed, some shops are open, there are sand

bags in front of some houses. A few people ride in Cyclos. A

few on motorcycles. Not much movement.

Loung watches the people. (Their clothing and style help us

to know it’s 1975.)

EXT. PHNOM PHEN STREETS

Loung continues to watch.

Military police officers walk the streets.

The front of some shops sandbags covering the glass entrances

making them less than welcoming.

Loung notices FOUR YOUNG MEN (peasant revolutionaries) sit

along a wall staring angrily at well to do couples shopping

in the market. Loung doesn’t understand the look on their

faces but it makes her uncomfortable.

OMITTED:

A billboard for a movie poster across the street catches her

eye.

2.

MA (O.S.)

Loung. Come down.

Loung looks to her mother. MA is admired in Cambodia for her

height, slender build and light skin. She is a very

beautiful, very elegant woman of Chinese decent. Ma has GEAK,

Loung’s three year old sister, in her arms. Luong jumps down

and goes to her.

Cambodian News Years has just past. Red decorations still on

the wall. Happy New Years (in french) hangs on the wall.

Ma puts Geak down and the girls play or share a fruit plate

Ma has put out.

Loung watches as Geak’s fruit drips all over her dress. (This

can be anything from toys to fruit. The point is for the

child to notice sweet things before the war and for the

audience to get used to a child’s view of the world)

OMITTED:

INT. PHNOM PENH APARTMENT - LATE DAY

PA and a COLLEAGUE of his enter the room. Loung jumps into

his arms. Pa is loved for his generous heart. He reminds

Loung of a teddy bear. His eyes are warm and brown and shaped

like the moon. Loung plays with the four stripes on his

uniform. Pa greets her and asks about her day.

Pa’s Colleague seems concerned but remains professional. They

speak in french (no translation as Loung can’t understand as

he intends).

COLLEAGUE COLLEAGUE

Les Am.ricains nous The Americans have abandoned

abandonnent. us. They have all already

Ils sont d.j. tous partis, left, the ambassador and the

ambassadeur, attach. military attache...

militaire…

PA PA.

C'est l. notre grande erreur It was a huge error to

d'avoir cru en eux. believe in them.

3.

COLLEAGUE COLLEAGUE.

Qui aurait cru qu'ils

abandonnent un peuple qui se

bat pour sa libert. ? Les

Khmers rouges sont d.j. .

Takmao et . l'ouest ils sont

en passe de contr.ler

l'a.roport de Pochentong.

Nos forces ne tiendront pas

48 heures de plus, il

faudrait n.gocier maintenant.

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