Loung Ung

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Loung Ung

Loung Ung (born April 17, 1970 in Phnom Penh ) is a Cambodia- born, American human rights activist , writer and lecturer. She is the national spokesperson for the campaign for a landmine- free world. From 1997 to 2003 she worked in the same capacity for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines .

Life

Loung Ung was born in 1970 in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh as the daughter of Seng Im Ung and Ay Choung Ung. She was the sixth of seven children and the third of four girls. In 1975, when Ung was five years old, the Khmer Rouge began to take control of Cambodia. Four years of Pol Pot-led genocide followed , affecting thousands of families and killing two million Cambodians. Ung's parents and two of her sisters were among the victims.

At the age of ten, Ung escaped Cambodia and immigrated to the United States. After emigrating, she wrote two books about her life from 1975 to 2003. From 1997 to 2003 Loung was the spokesperson for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines , which was started by the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. Today Ung is the national spokesperson for the campaign for a landmine-free world and in this function works closely with the UNHCR , the UN refugee agency .

book

In published in 2000 Ung her autobiographical novel First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers , under the title The long journey of hope in the Fischer Verlag S. was published in a German translation. In her memoirs, she describes how in April 1975 soldiers of the Khmer Rouge advanced into the capital Phnom Penh , committed genocide on the population and how she herself became an orphan refugee. Loung initially had to train as a child soldier in an orphan camp , while her brothers and sisters fought desperately for their lives in labor camps. The book became a bestseller.

reception

In February 2017, the film The Long Road of Hope premiered in the historic sites of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap in the presence of the king. This is based on her book of the same name and was produced by Netflix together with Bophana Production. Directed by Angelina Jolie . In September 2017 the film, which Ung had worked on, was presented at the Telluride Film Festival .

Awards

Hollywood Film Award

literature

Web links

Commons : Loung Ung  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Bestselling Cambodian author Loung Ung speaks with UNHCR In: goodreads.com, July 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ The long way of hope In: fischerverlage.de, accessed on August 12, 2017.
  3. ↑ Ali Al-Nasani: Hollywood in Cambodia: First They Killed My Father In: Heinrich Böll Foundation , February 24, 2017.
  4. ↑ After the successful wrap of the production of First They Killed My Father in mid February, 2016, the movie is set to be premiered on the 18th of February 2017 in Siem Reap, Cambodia In: cambodia-cfc.org. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  5. ↑ Julia Bork: 'First They Killed My Father': Angelina Jolie takes over the direction of the Netflix production about child soldiers in Cambodia In: filmstarts.de, July 24, 2015.
  6. ↑ Kristopher Tapley, Paula Parisi: Angelina Jolie Gets Standing Ovation for 'Cambodia' Film at Telluride . In: Variety, September 2, 2017.
  7. ↑ Angelina Jolie & Loung Ung to Receive Award at Hollywood Film Awards for 'First They Killed My Father' In: justjared.com, November 2, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Ung, lounge
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American human rights activist, writer, and lecturer
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Phnom Penh , Cambodia