The Roots Remain
Cineplex Odeon
Mon. Feb. 8, 7:15 p.m.
Rating: Four stars
“How can you understand your identity if you don’t know your past?” asks Fonki, the Montreal-raised graffiti artist of Cambodian descent in this moving and visually striking journey of self-discovery that doubles as a cinematic memorial to the Cambodian genocide and a hopeful plea from the younger generation for Cambodian renewal, despite its dark past.
Victoria-based filmmaker Andrew Marchand-Boddy and co-director Jean-Sebastien Francoeur chronicle their endearing subject’s healing odyssey to his ancestral homeland. Despite his frustration over authorities whitewashing his first mural, inspired by ancient graffiti discovered in Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple, he paints more murals to commemorate the loss of family members and others to the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.
The filmmakers wisely allow this charismatic artist to speak for himself as he visits places such as Boeung Kak lake, once the largest urban lakea in Phnom Penh, where impoverished families have been forcibly displaced by major property developers. Fonki also inspires village schoolchildren to express themselves artistically; and bonds with local musicians, street artists like Lisa Mam and musicians such as producer Visal Sok who have been incorporating Cambodian culture into their art.
The filmmakers interweave their own evocative footage of Fonki’s humbling journey, a sombre highlight being his visit to The Killing Fields memorial centre, with home videos of his exiled parents and grandparents recalling their traumatic history.
Indeed, this is more than a valentine to the potential beauty and therapeutic impact of street art.