My first is a documentary about Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, but not the standard travelogue you might expect as most of the views it provides of the city are those of a school... and a dump!
My second is a historical precis of the post-Khmer Rouge period, the trauma and the abject misery it left in its trail for at least a decade.
My third is an ode to a specific category of young Phnom Penh paupers, namely the little forlorn creatures sent scavenging for garbage by their parents, themselves in dire straits. Sad-looking kids forced to do a slave's work in a horrifyingly unhealthy, stinking, dangerous dump. All day long. Day after day. As of the age of four. But who can be seen as the film progresses metamorphosing under our astonished eyes into radiant young adults with an enchanted smile.
My fourth is the sensitive portrait of Christian and Marie-France des Pallières, the French couple who made this transfiguration possible by devoting all the rest of their lives (they started their association PSE - For a Child's Smile - in 1996, shortly after retiring) to these "little gems". Feeding them, providing them with water and sanitation was the first step towards solid insertion into the social fabric, followed along with time by giving them access to primary education first, then to secondary education and eventually to vocational training. At the time the film was made (2015) The PSE school in Pnomh Penh numbered no fewer than 7,000 students and 20,000 young people had been lifted out of misery, given back their dignity and been established in the working world. All this thanks to the Des Pallières' initial effort, their empathy, their fund-raising skills and their ability to find talented collaborators (mostly found among those they had saved) to surround them.
My whole is "Les pépites" (Little Gems), an amazing documentary in which the director, Xavier de Lauzanne is not content to interview Christian, Marie-France and the children (when they were little and now that they are young adults) but also manages to create a genuine movie with all the qualities that go with it: a good rhythm, a 2:35 aspect ratio, views by drone, dolly shots, a skillful use of filmed archives, and so on. A magic film at once effective, affecting, captivating and entertaining (bravo to Christian's volubility and sense of humor!).
A undeniable must-see!!!
