The film – which is due to be released via Netflix – is an adaptation of the 2000 memoir of Cambodian human rights activist Loung Ung about surviving the deadly Khmer Rouge regime, a four-year period in which about two million Cambodians died.

Ung was five years old when she was forced from her family home and trained as a child soldier in a work camp – and the film will focus on this period of her life, with untrained actor Moch portraying her on screen.

“Immediately, I trusted Angelina's heart,” said Ung, when asked why she wanted the actor to direct her story. “Through the years, we have become close friends, and my admiration for Angelina as a woman, a mother, a filmmaker, and a humanitarian has only grown.

“It is with great honour that I entrust my family's story to Angelina to adapt into a film.”

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