The Children of Year Zero

In the suffocating dust of Cambodia, a brother and sister’s bond is tested by a revolution that seeks to erase history, family, and love itself.

When the Khmer Rouge march into Phnom Penh in 1975, they promise a new beginning—Year Zero. For eight-year-old Rithy and his older sister, Lida, it is the end of everything they have ever known. Driven from their comfortable city home at gunpoint, they are forced into the brutal, unforgiving reality of the "killing fields," a vast labor camp where starvation, disease, and the watchful eyes of Angkar, the faceless "Organization," are a constant, terrifying presence.

Separated from their parents, Rithy and Lida have only each other. Lida, fiercely protective, uses her wits to navigate the camp’s deadly politics, sacrificing her own meager rations and risking brutal punishment to keep her younger brother alive. Rithy, a gentle soul forced to witness unimaginable cruelty, clings to memories of their past life like a talisman against the darkness that threatens to consume his innocence.

As they endure backbreaking labor under the blistering sun, they form a fragile, secret family with other orphans, discovering that even in a world stripped of all humanity, small acts of kindness and shared stories can be powerful acts of defiance. But in a regime where family ties are a crime and emotion is a weakness, their devotion to one another becomes their most dangerous secret.

When a zealous young Khmer Rouge cadre takes a chilling interest in their small group, Rithy and Lida are pushed to the brink, facing a choice that will not only determine their own survival but will challenge the very essence of their bond.

A harrowing and ultimately hopeful story of resilience, The Children of Year Zero is an unforgettable testament to the enduring power of love in the face of unimaginable evil.