Srey Leak, Me Nea and Cheata were 16 and 17 years old when they met as karaoke girls at Phnom Penh's "Soul" club, each sold into the virginity trade by their own mothers. Matthew Watson's documentary The Girls of Phnom Penh (2007, 60 min) examines that fraught, complicated relationship in intimate detail, while also tracing something else entirely: the fierce friendship between the three girls, who face a brutal existence with remarkable courage and humour, leaning on each other as they navigate childhood dreams, teenage expectations, and the very adult lives they lead by night. With a soundtrack by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, it's a story of sisterhood forged through adversity. Free entrance. English subs.
