The making of ‘The Storm Makers’

IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary/IDFA Bertha Fund Harvest 2014,

Guillaume Suon’s The Storm Makers, presents the stories of three people involved in different ways in the shocking trade in migrant workers from Cambodia.

“I always try to find individuals with a strong personal story,” the director says.

The candidness with which the three protagonists of The Storm Makers talk about their experiences, feelings and activities is one of the most striking features of this disturbing exploration of human trafficking and its consequences in Cambodia.

“I try to find people who can express their feelings deeply and tell their story in their own words,” the director says.

One of these protagonists is a ‘recruiter’ whose admissions of greed, ruthlessness and illegal exploitation of naive Cambodian villagers are truly jaw-dropping.

“He didn’t want to be filmed at first,” Suon says.

“He suggested I only film his hands. I told him I wasn’t interested and wouldn’t film him at all then. He then changed his mind, saying he had lied for so many years and this film was a way for him to tell the truth. He was very careful at first, but seeing I was just filming his daily life, he started to say more, day by day. He’d rather be successful than honest and treated as a slave. I think he represents a side of Cambodian society now, where money can sometimes buy anything.”

Another protagonist gives a heart-rendering open account of how her life has been completely devastated by the trade in Cambodian migrant workers.

“I spent a lot of time talking with all the characters off-camera,” Suon says.

“I took the time to build a real relationship with them. I had no problems telling them when I thought they were hiding the truth. So eventually, when they understood I wasn’t making a film to blame or judge them, they opened up.”

Suon would like his film to “raise awareness of the danger of migration and the consequences of human trafficking”, but is sceptical of how much impact he can have as a filmmaker.

“How do you convince starving young men or women not to try their luck? They bargain with the only thing they have: their lives.”