Filmmaking | Interviews

Flute in the Storm

1 Sep , 2001  

Written by Evelyn Adams Carrigan | Posted by:

Filmmaker Jocelyn Glatzer discusses her upcoming film 'Flute in the Storm,' a portrayal of activist Arn Chorn Pond and his struggle to revive Cambodia’s dying musical heritage.

Cambodian refugees in this country are somewhat of an enigma to most Americans. Few are aware of the devastation caused by the Cambodian holocaust during the 1970’s Khmer Rouge uprising. In part, this is the power of Jocelyn Glatzer’s film, "Flute in the Storm."

The story documents internationally acclaimed human rights activist Arn Chorn Pond — his amazing feat of escaping death several times; his courage to live on despite the pain; and his attempts to revive Cambodia’s dying musical heritage.

In 1975 the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot’s peasant Communist regime, systematically decimated 90 percent of Cambodia’s musicians, dancers, teachers, artists, monks and anyone else suspected of being educated. Those who were captured were sent to labor camps to work 18-hour days. The prisoners were eventually killed or forced into military duty to fight the sudden Vietnamese invasion.

But a 10-year-old boy, Arn Chorn, managed to keep himself alive. During his internment, Arn learned from a master performer the ancient music of his country. The master was killed for the deed, but Arn was spared so that he could play military tunes on his flute for the officers at the camp. Later, while fighting the Vietnamese, Arn managed to escape his company, winding his way through the jungle for days until he found a refugee camp. There he met Reverend Peter Pond, a Cambodian relief worker, who adopted Arn and two other boys, and brought them back to America two years later.

"Flute in the Storm" tells a compelling story of healing, hope and the struggle to revive a cultural tradition on the brink of extinction. Knowing that he survived after having watched so many die has been a painful cross to bear for Arn Chorn Pond. But at 34, he has reached out to his Cambodian-American community in Lowell and in his native country. Arn is passionately and successfully implementing programs that are bringing the music back to its people. His Cambodia Master Performers Project is a valiant attempt to restore dignity and power to the few surviving masters by coordinating paid teaching positions for them.

The filmmaker, Jocelyn Glatzer has worked for Maysles Films and WNET’s Great Performances series as well as various feature films. She started her own production company, Over the Moon Productions, after working in the documentary business for 10 years. She is a recent recipient of an LEF Foundation grant and director of "Flute in the Storm."

EAC: How do you know Arn Chorn Pond?

Glatzer: I met Arn in my senior year at Northfield Mt. Hermon School in western Massachussetts. It was obvious to me that he was not your ordinary prep-school kid. We started having dinners together and he told me his incredible story. We’ve been friends ever since.

EAC: What prompted you to make this documentary?

Glatzer: Over the years we’ve kept in touch. We have both worked with an organization called Facing History and Ourselves so we ran into each other at workshops and conferences. I knew that someday I would work on a project with Arn. It was just a matter of when.

When I moved to Boston last year from New York, I contacted Arn to see what he was working on. Last September he spoke at Simmons College, and I videotaped the event. We had lunch and he told me about his work to revive Cambodian music. I knew immediately that Arn’s story and his important work should be documented. Arn mentioned that he was going to Cambodia in November, and he willingly agreed to let me follow him. I was ready to be engaged in something challenging and I knew that working with Arn would be an adventure. The film is about personal recovery and cultural survival in the aftermath of war — music is the vehicle used to explore these issues.

EAC: How did you prepare for the trip?

Glatzer: I only had two months to get ready. Fortunately, I had some money in the bank from previous commercial work, and I went ahead with the faith that funding would appear sometime in the future. I hired a cameraperson and a sound engineer only, because I didn’t want to have a huge crew. Arn had his itinerary set for the trip so I could plan a strong shoot schedule around the work he had mapped out for himself.

EAC: What was it like to travel around Cambodia?

Glatzer: It’s tough because the country’s infrastructure is in such disrepair. The roads are a series of ditches, and it takes three hours to travel 50 miles. The option of taking a boat from Phnom Penh to Angkor Wat was no less inviting because the walkway was too narrow for us to carry our equipment and the boat was in rough shape. We chose not to go, but the next time I’m there I’m definitely going to try it.

For me personally, the toughest aspect of travelling in Cambodia was navigating the emotional terrain of the people who live there. There’s still so much pain because every single person has lost at least one family member and many people have seen the darkest side of human nature. The pain is palpable. It definitely had an impact on how we worked.

Arn is trying to make a dent by rebuilding the framework of his cultural heritage. He feels that the arts are the heart and soul of the country. He is really trying to save peoples’ lives — and doing this work heals him as well.

It was a very intense shoot. Very emotional. But I was driven by the fact that that it’s important for Cambodia to have world attention. The country is still very unstable. War crime tribunals are supposed to begin soon and they could severely impact the already precarious political climate.

EAC: Given the extant fear in Cambodia, how are people receiving the Cambodia Master Performers Project?

Glatzer: In Cambodia, the younger people don’t know the music because it is never played. There is no music in the elevators, office buildings, or stores. They listen to Thai music and pop music. In America, Arn is helping the kids find a way to incorporate the traditional music with hip-hop and rap, which has worked well. Cambodian music has an incredibly unique sound that Westerners haven’t heard much. I’ll be interested to hear how people will receive it.

‘Flute in the Storm’ will be completed in early 2002. For more information about ‘Flute in the Storm,’ contact Jocelyn Glatzer at Over the Moon Productions, Inc. 617-971-9497 or glatzer@aol.com. Also visit www.cambodianmasters.org.


'Flute in the Storm' will be completed in early 2002. For more information about 'Flute in the Storm,' contact Jocelyn Glatzer at Over the Moon Productions, Inc. 617-971-9497 or glatzer@aol.com. Also visit www.cambodianmasters.org.

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