Angelina Jolie to direct movie about Cambodia

Titled First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, Jolie, 40, will direct and produce the Netflix project from a script she co-adapted with Ung, reported Variety.

Cambodian director and producer Rithy Panh, director of <g data-gr-id="20">Oscar-nominated</g> foreign-language film The Missing Picture, is also one of the producers. “I was deeply affected by Loung’s book. It deepened forever my understanding of how children experience war and are affected by the emotional memory of it. And it helped me draw closer still to the people of Cambodia, my son’s homeland.

“It is a dream come true to be able to adapt this book for the screen, and I’m honoured to work alongside Loung and filmmaker Rithy Panh,” Jolie said.

In the Land of Blood and Honey director and Ung first met over a decade ago when she read Ung’s memoir. They became close friends and later adapted the screenplay together.

Maleficent star’s Cambodian-born son, Maddox, will also be involved in the production of the film.