The Cambodian Community Association of Maine is pleased to invite you to a special event featuring a reading and book discussion with Loung Ung, author of First They Killed My Father and co-screenplay writer of First They Killed My Father, the 2017 Netflix Original Movie, directed by Angelina Jolie based on Ung’s memoir.

The event is free but a donation is encouraged to help support our work!

ABOUT FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER

Loung Ung was five years old when the Khmer Rouge army stormed into her city in April 1975, forcing her family to flee their home. For the next four years, the family hid their identities dispersed in order to survive. Without the protection of her family, Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed. Published in 2000, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers was selected by the Asian/Pacific American Librarians’ Association for “Excellence in Adult Non-fiction Literature.”  Click Here to read FTKMF teaching guide 

“I encourage everyone to read this deeply moving and very important book. Equal to the strength of the book, is the woman who wrote it. She is a voice for her people and they are lucky to have her.” – Angelina Jolie, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.

“This is a strong story, simply told. Ung helps us understand what happens when a family is torn apart by politics, adversity, and war.  Change the names of the characters, give them another country of origin, and this story of dislocation becomes a tragedy millions of immigrants have lived through but seldom talk about…. Ung’s story is a compelling and inspirational one that touches universal chords. Americans would do well to read it, no matter where they were born.”
~ Washington Post Book World