''The Betrayal — Nerakhoon'' is a 2008

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath.

Synopsis

It is about an immigrant from

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

living in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The film centres on the family's flight from Laos after the United States Secret War in Laos and the difficulty of assimilating into American life. Cultural obstacles encountered are presented through the medium of the break-up of the narrators' family, culminating in the death of a family member linked to gang warfare. In the

Lao language Lao (Lao: , ), sometimes referred to as Laotian, is the official language of Laos and a significant language in the Isan region of northeastern Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language. Spoken by over 3 million people in ...

, "nerakhoon" () translates to "ingratitude" or "betrayal".

Reception

Critical response

''The Betrayal'' has an approval rating of 93% on

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on 30 reviews, and an average rating of 7.63/10. It also has a score of 78 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Film Festivals and Accolades

The Betrayal won the Spectrum Award at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (2008), and screened within such festivals as

Maryland Film Festival The Maryland Film Festival is an annual five-day international film festival taking place each March in Baltimore, Maryland. The festival was launched in 1999, and presents international film and video work of all lengths and genres. The festiv ...

. In 2009, ''The Betrayal – Nerakhoon'' was Nominated for an Oscar at the 81st Academy Awards for Best Documentary Features. Also in 2009, The Betrayal was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. It was shown in the Documentary Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. ''The Betrayal – Nerakhoon'' won the 2010 Creative Arts

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking. It also won Student Doc Award at Sheffield Doc/Fest in 2012.

Release

The film was released on home video by The Cinema Guild.

References

External links

* 2008 films Documentary films about Asian Americans 2008 documentary films American independent films Lao-language films Documentary films about immigration to the United States Documentary films about families 2008 directorial debut films 2008 independent films Films scored by Howard Shore Primetime Emmy Award–winning broadcasts 2000s English-language films 2000s American films Documentary films about New York City Laotian diaspora in the United States English-language documentary films English-language independent films {{bio-documentary-film-stub