Angelina Jolie to direct Cambodia-set drama for Netflix
On Thursday, Netflix announced that Jolie Pitt will direct and producer an adaptation of "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers," a memoir from Cambodian author and human rights activist Loung Ung.
The story recounts Ung going through the Khmer Rouge regime as a child in Cambodia, a four-year genocide in which two million Cambodians died. Ung was forced from her family's home and went to a work camp where she trained as a child soldier. Her book was published in 2000.
Jolie Pitt contacted Ung over a decade ago about making a film about her experience and the two adapted a screenplay.
Jolie Pitt has had a connection with Cambodia since visiting there while filming "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" in 2001.
She adopted her first child, Maddox Chivan, from an orphanage in Battambang, Cambodia when he was seven-months old. Previous to that, she did humanitarian work in Cambodia and nearby regions.
Production on "First They Killed My Father" will begin later this year in Cambodia, according to the release.
Jolie Pitt is currently in post production on the drama "By The Sea," which she wrote, directed and starred opposite her husband.
She is still planning to direct "Africa," a passion project of her's on the work of paleo-anthropologist Dr. Richard Leakey and his decade-long fight to save Africa from the illegal wildlife trade. According to the Netflix release, Jolie Pitt plans to take that on following production of "First They Killed My Father."
