Band Members Socheat Chea Daniel Chea SokPhirom Riem Picherith Morm
The Filmmakers
Directors:
Caylee So, Visal Sok
Writers:
Dane Styler, Caylee So
Cinematography by:
David D. Rivera Rojas
Film Editing by:
Frank Martinez
Producer:
Neardey Trinh, Caylee So, praCh Ly
Executive Producer:
Bao Huynh,Asma Jafir,Kolap Vanny,Serey Vanny,Chanda Kiep,Sothearos Kiep, Luis Martinez,Brian Lee,Sophal Ear
Associate Producer:
Johnny Mam
Original Music by:
Gavin Keese
Sound Design and Re-recording Mixing by:
Yu-Ting Su
VFX Supervisor:
Sina San
Film Colorist:
Scott Bradbury
The Story
In the Life of Music is a powerful intergenerational tale that explores love, war, and a family’s relationship to: ‘Champa Battambang,’ made famous by Sinn Sisamouth (The King of Cambodian Music). Exploring three different decades, it depicts the lives of people whose world is inevitably transformed by the emergence of the Khmer Rouge Regime.
Behind the Music
Sinn Sisamouth
Sinn Sisamouth was an influential and highly prolific Cambodian singer
songwriter from the 1950s to the 1970s. He is widely considered the "King
of Khmer music." Sinn Sisamouth, along with Ros Serey Sothea, Pan Ron,
Mao Sareth, and other Khmer artists, was part of a thriving pop music
scene in Phnom Penh that combined elements of Khmer traditional music
with rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Sisamouth was well known for
his crooning voice, often compared to the voice of Nat King Cole with the
stage p stage presence of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presly. In 1965, Sisamouth's
song "Champa Battambang" was the first content played on Khmer
Republic Television. Sisamouth was a leader of many musical trends, like
moving traditional Khmer music and romantic ballads to Latin jazz, cha
cha cha, agogo, and eventually psychedelic rock. Unfortunately, like many
singers and songwriters of his time, Sinn Sisamouth disappeared during
the Khmer Rouge era; the date and the circumstance of his death has
never been confirmed.
