In 2020, a video championing social justice by a young Cambodian rapper, Kea Sokun, went viral. Shortly after that, the artist was arrested and accused of inciting criminal activity under an overly broad interpretation of Article 495 of Cambodia’s criminal code, a law that has been increasingly used against citizens expressing political opinion on social media. While the government portrays Sokun as an opposition-funded musician calling for an uprising, his parents argue that he was just a kid making music in his room. The short documentary Not Love Songs follows Sokun’s story, and we find out more from the film's director Jackson Brook, who is also a Cambodia-based journalist with the Southeast Asia Globe. Jackson also discusses the current political environment in Cambodia, under Prime Minister Hun Sen, and the Cambodian People’s Party. The film will be presented as part of the Freedom Film Festival 2022, which will screen films that bring diverse and critical perspectives on the theme of Pandemik Dua Darjat or Pandemic of Inequality, that are often missing from the mainstream.

Image credit: Freedom Film

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