The film is an interrogation of modern-day slavery and a uniquely harrowing coming-of-age tale. Rodd Rathjen's exquisitely crafted debut feature follows a 14-year-old rural Cambodian boy as he sets off to escape his family's poverty, but is enslaved aboard a Thai fishing trawler. Squalor and cruelty threaten to crush his spirit, yet he finds the self-preserving courage to break the chains. By exposing brutal reality through its tightly-woven narrative, this artistic call to action sheds necessary light on much-overlooked human rights abuses at the heart of our global economy. (Photo: © Rafael Winer)
Festivals
"God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya" is the winner of the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury in the International Competition. The jury awarded prizes in the Panorama and the Forum as well.