BUOYANCY

14-year-old Chakra from Cambodia secretly leaves home in search of a better life. After a gruelling journey across the border, he finally arrives in Thailand, where he and other young men are sold to a broker and enslaved on a fishing trawler. As months go by, trapped at sea and forced to work with little to no rest, the workers begin to lose any hope, and then any humanity.

The film draws on real life accounts of victims of modern slavery, in particular survivors who have been trapped on boats in the South China Sea – a common practice within the multi-billion-dollar fishing industry in Thailand that supplies seafood to the rest of the world. Despite its crucial significance to the ongoing debate, the film has not been screened in Thailand before.

Following the film screening, a panel of experts will discuss human rights violations in the fishing sector and efforts by governments, NGOs, employers, trade unions, and others to end these abuses. Confirmed speakers include:

1. Ms. Suthasinee Kaewleklai, Coordinator for the Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRM) in Thailand

<https://www.solidaritycenter.org/thailand-migrant-rights-leader-wins-human-rights-award/>

2. Ms. Ussama Kaewpradap, Organizing Operation Coordinator for the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF)'s Fishers' Rights Network

<https://www.itfglobal.org/fr/node/1782>

3. Mr. Prum Vannak, former slave labourer on the Thai fishing fleet and author of the graphic novel 'The Dead Eye and the Deep Blue Sea'

<https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-10/vannak-prum-account-of-modern-slavery-and-escape/11376990>.

The panel is moderated by Mr. Phil Robertson, Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division

https://www.hrw.org/about/people/phil-robertson

Fri, December 13, 2019

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Location

Alliance française de Bangkok

179 Thanon Witthayu

Bangkok, 10330

Presented by: Heinrich Böll Stiftung Southeast Asia, Goethe-Institut Thailand, Alliance Française de Bangkok

Director: Rodd Rathjen
Duration: 93 Mins. Language: Khmer + Thai with English Subtitles