About the film

Everyone holds a secret. The secret of the future. “Phnom Penh Lullaby” is an intimate story of a man looking for love and acceptance.Ilan Schickman left Israel dreaming of a new life. He now lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with his Khmer girlfriend Saran and daughters Marie, 2 years old, and Jasmine, 6 months, trying to make ends meet as a street fortune-teller.

Telling other peoples’ fortunes can be very dangerous. Ilan works at night on 51st Street, right next to bars with prostitutes, and sex and drug dealers. It’s the best place to find clients. Saran is his translator, Marie wanders alone among strangers, and Jasmine sleeps in her hammock unaware of the world around her.

Ilan decides that the older daughter should be given away to Saran's family in the countryside. The journey from the infernal city to the idyllic countryside begins. The sunset on the Mekong River is a picture filled with a distant, almost unreal beauty which is not meant to be a part of Ilan's world.

Saran's family doesn't want to take care of Marie for free. Ilan has to bring his wife and both daughters back to Phnom Penh. The dramatic decision concerning the older girl's future has to be made again.

“Phnom Penh Lullaby” portrays people entrapped in their lives who dream about having a happy, loving family which doesn’t need to fear the future. They get driven away by the powers they hardly control.

Wybrane nagrody i festiwale /Selected festivals and awards: 2011 - Vision Du Reel, Nyon, 2011 - Hot Docs, Toronto, 2011 - Docfest Sheffield, 2011 – DOK Leipzig, Specjalne Wyróżnienie/DOK Leipzig, Special Mention, 2011 - FF Kraków, Srebrny Lajkonik / Cracow FF, Silver Hobby Horse