Human Rights Film Series: "New Year Baby"

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Price: Free and open to the public

Location: Room 25 Mondale Hall, University of Minnesota Law School, 229 19th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States of America

Description: Presented by the Human Rights Center, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the Genocide Intervention Network-Minnesota Chapter

The Human Rights Film Series seeks to use film to educate the public on human rights issues by bringing together experts and community members to view and discuss human rights-focused films.

This documentary by U.S. filmmaker Socheata Poeuv follows her as she traces her roots back to Cambodia and the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge reign of terror.

Socheata says of her film, "I was born on Cambodian New Year in a Thai refugee camp and my parents never told me how I got there. NEW YEAR BABY is my personal documentary - a search for the truth about how my family survived the Khmer Rouge genocide and why they buried the truth for so long.

My parents used to embarrass me. They were oddballs, awkward immigrants who still fermented fish in the kitchen and sprouted mung beans in the bathtub. All this time, I thought they were holding me back. The truth is my parents carried me further than I can imagine -- across the border, over landmines and across the ocean to a new life in America. My birth marked the end of the horror and the beginning of a future.

Before I knew their story, I couldn't even see my parents for who they are.

We want to move and inspire Americans and the world with this story of love, joy & pardon. Our promise is to share New Year Baby with 100 million people in 10 years transforming a conversation of victimhood & shame into one of heroism & honor. Join us for the journey."

For more information, please contact the Human Rights Center at humanrts@umn.edu or the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at chgs@umn.edu.

website link