Aki Ra’s Boys

Singapore/Cambodia 2007 / 57min. Khmer with English subtitles.
Directors Lynn Lee, James Leong / Producer Lynn Lee

Boreak was six when he lost his right arm in a landmine accident. Family members rushed the young Cambodian to a nearby hospital where so-called “doctors” performed a crude amputation.

Burdened with eight other children to feed and unable to cope with the stress of handling a crippled son, his parents decided to send him to a home in Siem Reap for young landmine victims run by Aki Ra, a former child soldier, trained by the Khmer Rouge army to
lay landmines.

Now in his 30s, Aki Ra is haunted by his violent past and hopes to make amends by giving children like Boreak a home, and by helping remove the millions of landmines still buried in his country.

Despite his tragedy, Boreak is ever optimistic and refreshingly lacking in self-pity. Like most children, he is mischievous and inquisitive and wants to be a wrestler, a rap artist, a football player. And he rarely acts as if his disability is a hindrance.

Aki Ra’s Boys looks at the world through the eyes of Boreak and his good friend, Vannak and offers a unique insight into the effect that the landmine has on its victims and survivors, both during battle and in the long years that follow — a world at once bleak and brimming with possibilities.

Find similar films by topic: Social/Human Interest, War/Conflict, Youth/Children