On the Boat, on the River

Directed by Sovanpichvicheka KOL, 10:47min, 2022, Khmer with English subtitles

A young Muslim couple, both in their 20s, lives on a boat at a small island north of Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. Their life relies on the river they live on – the Mekong. The father, ROS Saly, was born and raised on his parents’ boat. He has dropped out of school early to help them make a living. As he has spent all his life on the river, it has become a part of him like his breath and his blood. But the Mekong has changed: The number of fish is declining, the amount of trash increasing. ROS Saly keeps fishing, to support his pregnant wife and two children. When a plane flew over, across where he was living, he looked and wondered about his family’s future. Will he be able to support them with traditional fishing, without losing his ancestral way of life?