Three Khmer Sisters: A Public Reading

A free public reading of Three Khmer Sisters, a new play rooted in Khmer family, memory, and diaspora.

A Public Reading of a New Play

By LinDa Saphan and Catherine Filloux

Join us for a public reading of Three Khmer Sisters, a new play by LinDa Saphan and Catherine Filloux, presented at Judson Memorial Church’s Off-Broadway performance space, the Gym.

This original work uses family as a lens to explore memory, migration, survival, and the bonds between sisters shaped by history and displacement. While the structure nods to a theatrical classic, the story is rooted in Khmer experience and contemporary voices.

With no intermission and four powerful roles for women, the play unfolds in the confined space of a mother’s assisted living facility. As dementia erodes the borders of her memory, secrets buried for decades surface. The three daughters, raised across different continents and emotional terrains, must confront their tangled histories, the wounds of diaspora, and their struggle to express love in the shadow of cultural silence. It offers an urgent intervention into what kinds of families are seen as worthy of dramatic focus. It dares to center the lives of Cambodian diaspora women not in the margins, but in the heart of the narrative, with no trope of the superwoman, or magical beings, this realistic and natural play relies of the complexities of each of the sisters.

We are grateful to Judson Memorial Church for their generous support and for providing a space for this reading.

Book tickets: https://threekhmersisters.eventbrite.com

Shadows directed by Sreileak Prum

I started this project because I wanted to pay it forward to the next generation of Cambodian women. By connecting with Cambodian-American women who felt the same call to support our sisters back home, we were able to provide the financial backing needed to give them true creative freedom. Shadows is the culmination of that effort. My heart is full seeing what happens when the diaspora sends its love back to Cambodia.

SHADOWS began with a simple but exciting idea from LinDa Saphan: to find and support new, emerging female Cambodian directors. Around the same time, Danech had the idea to produce Sreileak Prum’s new short film and everything clicked. From there, SHADOWS came to life. Bringing Sreileak’s vision to the screen was truly a team effort, driven by a passionate, female-led collective. Huge thanks to our amazing contributors and executive producers: Annong Phann, Anname Phann, Beni Chhun, Nina You, and Thavary Krouch.

Premiere at Rotterdam at IFFR: Click here