Finding Face

Finding Face details the controversial case of Tat Marina, who was attacked with acid in Cambodia in 1999. At sixteen, Marina was a beautiful rising star in Phnom Penh’s karaoke music scene. She was coerced into an abusive relationship with Cambodia’s Undersecretary of State, Svay Sitha, and subsequently doused with a liter of acid by his wife. A decade later, despite the fact that there were multiple witnesses to the crime, no charges have ever been filed in the case. The film contextualizes acid violence as both a human rights violation and a gender-based form of violence. In it, survivors of acid attacks and human rights workers discuss the many challenges faced by victims of this form of retribution, and what they see as a culture of impunity surrounding violence against women.

findingface.org

Awards:

Intl. Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights 2009
Intl. Film Festival on Human Rights 2009
Astoria Intl. Film Festival 2009