Chasing Cambodia - Documentary (Phase 1)

It was 2009 when we started brainstorming ways to tell the story of Johnny’s parents who fled Cambodia in the late 1970s to avoid being killed by the Khmer Rouge.

 

The stars didn’t align until years later when Johnny was asked to join the Cambodian National Cycling team which competes bi-annually in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, an Olympic level competition.

 

The games will take place this coming May in Vietnam and in 2023 the team will host the SEA Games in Cambodia. Johnny will get the opportunity to return to Cambodia as a 37 year-old elite cyclist with a young family and more pride than ever for a country that almost took his life before it ever was.

 

“Chasing Cambodia” is the working title for a longer form documentary film that has been in pre-production since the middle of 2021. Our goal with this campaign is to raise enough money to send a skeleton crew to Cambodia and Vietnam in May so that we can meet the rest of the Cambodian cycling team and document the races in Hoa Binh. Johnny will arrive in early May in Cambodia to meet his teammates for the first time in person. They will spend a few days concluding some strategies for the SEA Games and getting to know each other better. From there the team will travel to Hoa Binh in Vietnam where they will compete in one criterium and one road race.

Our expenses include flights and accommodations for our good friends and partners at Adelicia Company  as well as film permits, transportation, gear rental and a translator for their time in both countries.

 

This is one piece of a larger project that we will be working on for the next year and a half. Those who donate will be called out in the credits of the final film. If you have any questions or want to get involved please feel free to reach out @chasingcambodia.