The Storm Makers
1h 6m
Directed by Guillaume Suon • Documentary • 2015 • 68 minutes
The Storm Makers is a chilling exposé of Cambodia's human trafficking underworld. More than half a million Cambodians work abroad and a staggering third of these have been sold as slaves. Most are young women, held prisoner and forced to work in horrific conditions, sometimes as prostitutes, in Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan.
The film weaves the story of Aya, a young peasant sold into slavery at age 16, with that of two powerful traffickers (known as "storm makers" for the havoc they wreak) who use deception to funnel a stream of poor and illiterate people across the country's borders. French-Cambodian filmmaker Guillaume Suon presents an eye-opening look at the cycle of poverty, despair and greed that fuels this brutal modern slave trade.