Trevor Wright and Professor Ben Unguren, Theatre and Media Arts
As I set out to create a documentary about the lives of the residents of the Stueng Mean Chey landfill outside of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I thought I knew what to expect. I had lived and worked with the people of the dump during my time as a volunteer at the Cambodian Children’s Fund the previous summer, and I was familiar with the culture, language, and area. After two years of preparation and planning, my crew and I arrived in Phnom Penh and set off to work. Only three days passed before all of our ideas and plans for the film fell through and we had no leads. As a result, I ended up walking through the 100-acre dump talking to people and looking for subjects to film. What we ended up with exceeded all of our expectations. The film summary is as follows:
There are many places in the world where crime, poverty, and unsanitary conditions severely affect the lives of their respective inhabitants. Steung Mean Chey, the one and only municipal garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is no exception. In fact, the dump is considered by many to be a place exemplifying some of the worst living conditions in the world.
It is ironic that the name Steung Mean Chey is literally translated as “river of victory.” While the name does not at all exhibit the destitute circumstances of the dump, it does reflect the resilience found in the hearts of its inhabitants—in this regard it truly is a place of victory.
This attitude is represented in the lives of two women who struggle and sacrifice to provide for their respective needs. The first woman, Ly, and her husband Ki have recently been forced to move to the dump from their homeland where they could no longer subsist upon the land. Ki sorts through garbage all day to find recyclables he can sell to feed his family, while Ly watches over her 3-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son. As we spend time with her we realize that the driving force behind all of her actions, whether it be wading through leech-filled water to find snails for dinner or walking miles to a local doctor to heal her son, is founded upon one of the most basic of human instincts—caring for her children. Ly’s heroic resilience in her duty as a mother and Ki’s caring concern for his small family reveals how love and dedication to family can triumph in even the worst of circumstances.
The second woman, Ngaet, is a long time resident of the dump whose years of finding recyclables there have embittered her perception of the world. Yet, when she is injured in a traffic accident and is confined to her small shack, she learns how much her time at the dump has affected her. To her, the dump is not about the smells, the filth, or even the money, but rather the union of support she feels from her fellow waste pickers. We follow Ngaet, as she spends time healing, bragging about her only daughter, and eventually making her way back to the dump.
These stories interweave together to present a new outlook on what it means to be dedicated to one’s family, neighbors, and self.
The film is still in the post-production stages and is scheduled to be complete in August of 2009.