As Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh joins Asia’s development frenzy, its poorest people are shunted from slum to slum to make space for development land. We reveal the profound human cost of the country’s march to modernity.
“Why have they done this to us? It would be better if they killed me!” Chan Meng yells. That was six years ago, when he was first evicted from his home. Now he lives in a motley shack the size of a garden shed, with half the roof missing and mosquito larvae writhing in the shower recess. Like many evictees Chan Meng has found himself in temporary accommodation and could be moved on again at any time. “They want to move us around like cats and dogs!” These days the parlous, unpredictable reality for thousands of Cambodia’s poor is that of being forcibly evicted from their houses in the name of progress. Cambodia’s land ownership was thrown into chaos when Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge extinguished private title. Now money and corruption are playing havoc with the country’s attempts to bring back private property. There is one brave group known as the BK13 – 13 women – that are not prepared to let greedy developers take the very, very little they have. But with half a million residents forcibly evicted in recent years, it’s an enormous fight they have on their hands. “Every time we leave we face arrest and they beat us. We don’t know if they will use violence against us or if we will lose our lives.”
Oprah Winfrey Network’s docu-series “Our America with Lisa Ling” returns for season 4 on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at 10 pm ET/PT with eight new one-hour episodes. The popular series, hosted by award-winning journalist and author Lisa Ling, offers an in-depth examination of life in America and its complex subcultures. This season of Our America with Lisa Ling promises to challenge and entertain viewers with stories from their own backyards. Lisa takes viewers on a journey through secretive, kinky, misunderstood and marginalized subcultures throughout the nation, hoping to bring a new perspective on how we see our fellow Americans. From from the real world of BDSM, to our nation’s battle with childhood obesity, to the loving lifestyle of polyamory, to her own father’s struggle with aging, Lisa brings her unique insight and perspective to Our America.
In each episode, Ling immerses herself into the lives of the people she meets and challenges viewers to understand different perspectives and sometimes even question what they themselves have always believed to be true in Our America. Upcoming new episodes include:
“Shades of Kink” (Premiere Episode – Tuesday, January 22) – Lisa Ling goes beyond the fictional book Fifty Shades of Grey to explore the very real world of bondage, discipline and sadomasochism (BDSM).
“Generation XXL”(Tuesday, January 29) – Taking a journey to the American South, the epicenter of our nation’s obesity crisis, Lisa Ling meets children and families faced with a health crisis as they try to lose weight and live healthier lives.
“The Secret Lives of Seniors” (Tuesday, February 5) – Lisa Ling tries to help her own father navigate the challenges of aging while also exploring a graying American population who are speed dating, having sex and breaking track records, among other things.
“3 AM Girls – Breaking News” (Tuesday, February 12) – In an episode update, Lisa Ling returns to the streets of Washington, D.C. to see how two young women who were caught up in the shadowy underworld of domestic human sex trafficking are faring, and to catch up with the crusaders who risked their lives to secure their safety.
Tune in to the season premiere Our America with Lisa Ling Tuesday, January 22nd at 10/9c!
Every year, thousands of North Koreans make the dangerous journey across the border to escape oppression and poverty. In March of 2005, Danny was one of them. He escaped a life of indoctrination, routine public executions, and starvation. This is a documentary about Danny’s story– from his challenging life in North Korea, to his brave escape to China, and his resettlement journey in the United States. Meet Danny, he’s from North Korea.
Before the glossy magazine covers and marriage proposals from “Linsane” fans, Jeremy Lin was a quiet NBA journeyman, so unknown to the public eye, the New York Knicks’ security guards didn’t recognize him well enough to let him into the arena. For months, in a grind that would wear anyone down, Jeremy struggled to hold onto a roster spot in the sport he grew up loving. Days from being cut by the third consecutive basketball team, no one could have ever predicted what was going to happen next. The unassuming Harvard alum would take us on one of the wildest rides in sports history as fans all around the world began to take notice.
Jeremy Lin is a private, simple, and humble person. They requested to film him repeatedly, but he felt there wasn’t much of a story to tell. At the time, it seemed laughable to him that his story would be something people would want to hear. Fortunately after much persistence, he graciously agreed to the cameras. What began as a film project to document the life of an overlooked NBA walk-on became a small crew’s all-access pass to one of the unlikeliest stories ever to be told.
Before Linsanity, they were documenting a struggling basketball player and the wild turn of events he was leading. After Linsanity hit, they captured a determined athlete whom fans want to know “What makes this man tick?” They gained exclusive footage with friends, family, teammates, pastors, and Jeremy himself, from home videos of a young Jeremy Lin taking it to the hoop, his personal reflections as he struggled through stints in the NBA D-League, that Christmas day when he was cut by the Rockets, to when he joined the Knicks with a coach he had yet to speak to and a playbook he hadn’t even seen. They traveled with him to Asia to explore his family roots and interviewed him about his hopes and aspirations in the NBA.
Jeremy Lin’s story is so improbable, Hollywood couldn’t script this for the absurdity of being too unrealistic. Jeremy’s career is the antithesis of NBA convention. He grew up as a skinny Asian American kid in Palo Alto, CA, home to some of Silicon Valley’s most successful technology companies. The more they dug into his story, they saw how each seemingly unconventional turn became the foundation for the next opportunity – each success and challenge became a building block for bigger and better things, weaving together an impossible story that could only have ever happened that exact way. They have had the exclusive permission to document Jeremy’s personal life for several years now, capturing never-before-seen footage of him at the highest and lowest points in his basketball career. An intimate portrayal of a rising hero fighting unbeatable odds, it is their joy to share Jeremy Lin’s story with you now.
Linsanity the Movie is headed to the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, but they still need funds to complete the film. Funds they need will go towards sound editing, graphics, color-correction, marketing, licensing music and NBA footage. If you want to be part of history, you can contribute here.
TLC steps up to the plate with a new six-part docu-series sharing the lives of professional baseball’s most loveable bad boy, the All-Time Hit King, Pete Rose and his new fiancée, former Playboy model Kiana Kim. Watch the romance between the 70-something superstar and his 30-something fiancee unfold. PETE ROSE: HITS & MRS. premieres Monday, January 14, 2013 at 10 PM ET/PT and follows Pete and Kiana as they blend their respective families and prepare for a new life together.
Pete and Kiana are happily engaged – but as with many couples, the road to a wedding isn’t always smooth. This new modern family will experience all of the challenges other families face – and much more. Much younger than her soon to be husband, Kiana is a vivacious mother of two beautiful kids from a previous marriage, Cassie (14) and Ashton (11). This will be Pete’s third go-around raising kids, as he brings four older children of his own into the mix – some of whom have reservations about Kiana’s age and their upcoming nuptials. Together they will face the added challenge of determining where to lay down roots. With Pete living and working in Las Vegas, and Kiana and her two kids residing in Los Angeles, can they manage a long distance relationship under separate roofs in different cities?
Pete’s legendary history with baseball further complicates their lives. Kiana and her family know very little about that part of his past and his side of the story behind the public problems he continues to face. Pete shares more about his rise to fame in – and infamous banning from – the sport he loves, lives and breathes. With the support of Kiana and her kids, his family and legions of diehard fans, Pete considers appealing to the commissioner again on reinstatement. PETE ROSE: HITS & MRS. takes viewers along for the ride as he attempts to bring his new family together, celebrate his extraordinary career and live the life he’s always wanted to have.
Filmmaker Celesty Lee took a year off to travel while backpacking from Europe to Asia with a 2-man team over 10 months in 14 countries across 40+ cities. In addition to having fun, she conducted a social experiment with her friend. Even with all the joys and freedom, they faced many challenges from lack of information and lack of connections. In various locations around the world, she held a sign seeking help, while her cinematographer friend shot what transpired. They traveled with a very limited amount of money while staying in cheap hostels, traveling by low cost modes of transportation (night bus, night ferry without room, night train seat,etc). They even cooked by themselves with discount groceries from markets.Are people in various cities willing to help a stranger in need?
The kindness they received from strangers inspired them to to work on an app to connect people and increase kindness between travelers and locals. Look for the Ciao Vela app in the future.
