HFPA

Aug. 2017 FTKMF press con

quotes

I'm OK. “It is hard. This is the first time I’ve actually been doing this (interview) after a long time.  I am a little shy at this time, because I am not as strong I think inside as I have been in the past.

It's not easy doing press right now


What do you like about being a single? And what do you dislike?
I don't like it. It's not something I wanted.
Is there a good side?
No. I'm sorry, there’s just nothing nice about it. It’s just hard.

I actually couldn’t be at the final post (production for the film). “I couldn’t be there because of family issues. So sometimes, it appears I’m pulling it all together, but in fact, I’m just trying to get through my days. 

For me, this last year has been difficult.  I haven’t actually worked other than focusing on the work in Nairobi  and my teaching. I've spent most of my days just taking care of the children.  I will eventually balance more and do more work but because of family issues it's been extremely tough.

I feel that my body has sometimes taken a hit with all the things that I had to do. Then, emotionally, it’s been a very difficult year on top of it. I have had other health issues in the last few years. So, my health is something that I have to monitor.

I can't pretend this isn't a tough time in my life, but I'm trying to get through it by just moving forward and knowing it's part of being human. Sometimes I can forget that and we can all get pretty hard on each other.   But if you love what you do, then you tend to push forward and enjoy it.

With so much in life, you have to focus on how much worse it could be. And I am so happy I don’t have cancer, and I am so happy that I had the surgeries which will hopefully prevent me from getting cancer. If I get it, it will be delayed a few years and chemo will be delayed a few years, and the exchange for that peace of mind is quite good.

The only thing I do is try to laugh as much as possible. We tend to get so stressed that our children feel our stress. They need to feel our joy and have joy. For everything that we go through, just living every day, and while you are healthy and even if you’re going through chemo, find the ability to live, love and laugh. It may sound like a postcard, but it’s true.”

I don't want my children to feel my stress; they need to feel my joy and have joy in just living every day.  

Well I think every mother knows that it’s hard. I always ask myself that question and I am not very good at it. I am told often that I should try to find more time for myself, but I do love being a mom.


I am not very good at just letting things happen. I am somebody who will try to jump in. I can’t help myself. 

As I said before,  it is interesting and we focus so much on many things but making sure our children have a sense of joy is not a small thing, because we want to make sure that they have a sense of purpose of course. But their purpose gives them a sense of that they are looking forward in this life and that they feel engaged in this life and that they wake up with a certain sense of drive. But also that they laugh, live and appreciate. So challenges are when there are a lot of heavy things going on or just daily life or teenagers. I have many teenagers now and there are all the complications that come with it. I am just hoping that nobody will ever be as difficult as I was. So far they are not.”

They have been amazing.  They’re just like (Loung and her siblings) in the film. I know that they will have each other for life.  It’s been so moving to see how much they have helped each other, stood together, the big brothers helping the little kids and all of them helping me. They are your kids and you speak of your own kids, but they have really come into their own during this time. They are finding themselves and their voices. They are just like, in the film I supposed, I know that they will have each other for life.   I see them together and it gives me great peace to know that the day I pass away, they will have each other and take care of each other for life.




As a mother, I am proud of my children and what they do.  It is a good experience for them to be working on the film.

Listen, when you have six kids, you realise you are the boss of nothing. 


Oh my goodness,” she began. “I still fly. It’s been a while, because life takes over. But my boys are all flying. They’re all taking lessons—even Knox. He likes it, but you have to help him with the pedals. Actually, they’re flying so much that there’s no space for mom (laughs).

Actually, they are flying this weekend. The kids fly so much that I can barely see them on the weekend.

“I always feel like the best adventure is the next one. But now, with the kids, [it’s] nice to be able to think they’re my partners. And what are we going to do and where are we going to go?”

I’ve started cooking lessons. I’m not sure how good I am at it.  But cooking is one of those things when you are settled in your life and you take that time, you can enjoy food and cooking. Somehow I am very impatient and I am a little bit erratic, so it’s very hard to stand in the kitchen, but I am really trying. I’ve learned with the kids that if I cook, they all hang out. They just love it, but they often take over and tell me that they can do it better.”
So then I had a thought that maybe it’s a genius thing for a woman to say, ‘I can’t cook,’ because now all my children can cook really well. I joke that I did it on purpose.
I can’t follow a recipe. I am not one of those people. I don’t like to follow the rules, so I am a little bad at that.”

“Well, there are probably 12 of us (laughs). I need to rediscover some of the feelings of the old me, actually. We lose our way a bit and we get quite overwhelmed. I have had a lot happen in my life, from certain people passing, health issues to raising the children.
“It’s been a good time to absorb, develop and grow. But maybe, it’s also my kids growing up, where I’m starting to realize my own sense of play and joy have been put on hold a little bit. And maybe the kids hitting their teens is going to bring out a little more fun in mom (laughs). So maybe I’m going back. It may be time.”

Ten years ago I would have not absolutely said where I am today, because I would have thought very differently about my family life and my marriage. I would have thought very differently about my career. I would have never thought that I was going to be a director. I would have bet on just all the kids, all the travel and continuing that work.  In 10 years, I don’t know. You get to that age and you just want to be healthy. So I hope I 'll still be creative. Mad will be 26. He just got to be 16 and I couldn’t stop crying as I was reading him his card. He couldn’t stop laughing at me. So I have no idea what I’ll be doing. Chasing them around, I suppose. Hopefully, no grandkids yet (laughs).”


(bing translate)
Your winery Miraval in France produces very good wines. Will you continue to do so in the future?
Absolutely. Soon we will have a new wine coming to the market. The Miraval well is something particularly beautiful for our family. We have a deep connection with it. I hope this remains the case.



I asked Loung how she, as a Cambodian orphan, would feel if I adopted a Cambodian orphan,”
“She was very supportive. So she has known Mad his whole life.” (Angelina and Loung have been friends for 16 years now.) “Mad has known of Loung’s story his whole life. I told him, ‘One day, son, you’ll be ready, and you will tell me when it’s time to go deeply into your country. But I need your help. You have to do it with me.’
“One day, he said, ‘I’m ready.’ And he was. I made him go really deeply into the research, daily work and the edit. Also because the film is from a child’s point of view, it was good to have somebody younger (like Maddox) in there to say, ‘You’re losing my attention.’”
Understanding what happened in the Cambodian genocide helps enlighten her, especially in her volunteer work as UN’s special envoy, she claimed. “This cruelty and man’s inhumanity, oppression, intolerance and hate—we (still) see it today,” she said. “So there’s a need to rise against it and show the extraordinary people who go through it.
“We need to help share their voices, listen to them and connect people. So the next time I see a little girl in the middle of a war zone, I know how to speak with her more freely and feel more informed to be able to give her the right kind of support.”
On the controversy stirred by a Vanity Fair article that claimed Angelina and her team used emotional manipulation when they were casting the Cambodian child actors, she countered, “I have explained it and you can look it up.” (She said that the children’s guardians and parents were present at all the casting sessions and that everyone knew make-believe was involved.)
“It was a mischaracterization. It didn’t happen in any way that wasn’t absolutely with the thought of what is best for the child, the family and the situation. Everybody knows Rithy (Panh, producer) and me pretty well and the way we’d handle these situations.”
Having realistically showed man’s inhumanity in her absorbing war dramas, what’s her personal take on forgiveness?
“It’s a very good question,” she replied. “This answer gets political. I believe that without any form of justice, it’s very hard to ask for complete forgiveness. I speak to the kids often and say, ‘I don’t want you to hold ill will toward anybody in your heart, nor wish for anything bad for anybody.’
“There’s right and wrong, justice, criminal behavior and cruelty, and there are things that must be stood up against. So, in order to get to a place of peace and forgiveness, you have to address the crime and make sure that the crime does not repeat itself. Cambodia is a very interesting country to look at for that.
“Loung had death threats. There were people saying that these things didn’t happen, even 10 years ago, when I’d go there. There’s an argument for those brave people who would come forward in the tribunal. However small the amount of people convicted, there was a determination that there was a crime. Maybe that’s partially why we were able to finally make the film a few years after the tribunal, because the country is breathing differently.”
About reconciliation in general, she said, “I can reconcile if I feel that there’s been some form of justice done and some lessons learned. We must do that, or else we’re just staying in the cycle. In my heart, it’s important not to ever hold hate—it just destroys you. Louis (Zamperini, whose life as a prisoner of war in WWII she chronicled in ‘Unbroken’) taught me that.”