A karaoke bar discovery launches a Cambodian factory girl into stardom—and chaos.
Sorya, a young Cambodian woman aged 17 years old, arrives in Phnom Penh to work in a textile factory with her best friend, Lida. With a hellish pace of work and no talking allowed, Sorya is not a natural at sewing, unlike her friend who rapidly works her way up the corporate ladder. Sorya prefers the nightlife and city living of the capital. One night, she is singing karaoke in Lucky bar. Everybody there is captivated by her voice. It’s the beginning of her path to stardom but between love affairs, friendships that are broken and then mended, desire and frustration, more trouble lies ahead for Sorya as she tries to find her path in life!
Direction
Denis Do captures factory hell and karaoke heaven with equal poetry.
Writing
Best friend rivalry that actually hurts—Lida's rise cuts deep.
Director
Denis Do
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Denis Do is Cambodian-French, bringing outsider-insider tension to Phnom Penh's rapid development. The film reflects real 2010s garment worker protests.
The karaoke sequences use rotoscope-like techniques to make Sorya's performances feel genuinely live—raw, imperfect, transcendent.
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