Loung Ung
Activist and Author of the bestseller
First They Killed My Father.
Co-writer of the Netflix Film by Angelina Jolie, based on her book.
“Courage is when you dare to be yourself, in whatever ways you want to be – to not be afraid, to just be authentically you.”
~ Loung Ung
LOUNG UNG is a bestselling author, activist, and co-screenplay writer of First They Killed My Father, the critically acclaimed 2017 Netflix Original Movie based on her memoir, that was produced and directed by Angelina Jolie and is now streaming on Netflix in 190 countries. The film received the “Hollywood Foreign Language Film Award" at the Hollywood Film Awards in 2017.
Born in 1970 to a middle-class family in Phnom Penh, Loung Ung was only five years old when the Khmer Rouge Soldiers stormed into her city and her family was forced out of their home in a mass evacuation to the countryside. Orphaned and separated from her siblings, Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans where she was taught to hurt and hate. By 1978, the Khmer Rouge had killed Ung's parents and two of her siblings. In 1980, she and her older brother escaped by boat to Thailand, where they spent five months in a refugee camp. Her first memoir, the national best-seller First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (Harper Perennial), details her survival of Cambodia's killing fields, one of the bloodiest episodes of the twentieth century. From 1975 to 1979, some two million Cambodians -- out of a population of just seven million -- died at the hands of the infamous Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime. Of her family of nine, five survived. Harrowing, yet hopeful, Loung’s powerful story is an unforgettable account of a family shaken and shattered, yet miraculously sustained by courage and love in the face of unspeakable brutality.
In 1995, after attending a memorial service in Cambodia, Ung was shocked and saddened to learn that 20 of her relatives had been killed, and thousands of the survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide were still being maimed, injured, and killed each year by antipersonnel land-mines. Returning to America, Ung served as the spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine Free World from 1997-2005, a project of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines which was co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. She has since made over forty trips back to Cambodia.
First They Killed My Father was a 2001 recipient of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians’ Association award for Excellence in Adult Non-fiction Literature, and is widely taught in high schools and universities across the U.S. and internationally and selected for community and all campus One Read programs. The book as been translated into 15 languages, including Khmer, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, French, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. In her second book, Lucky Child (HarperCollins), Ung picks her story back up in Burlington, Vermont, where she and her brother relocated, and describes the arduous process of adjusting to a new country and culture. Her latest book, Lulu in the Sky: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind (Harper Perennial), tells the next chapter in Ung's life, revealing her daily struggle to keep darkness, anger, and depression at bay while falling in love at college with Mark Priemer, who is now her husband.
Today, she has shared her messages of building resilience, healing from trauma, civic service, activism, and leadership in the U.S. and across the world. She has spoken at numerous schools and universities and organizations, including: Stanford University, Boston College, Yale University, Phillips Academy, Cathay Pacific Airlines, U.S. Coast Guard, the Young Presidents' Organization, The Million Dollar Round Table Plenary, Linkage Inc., Crowe Chizek and Company LLP, SONY, Omega Women’s Leadership, the UN Conference on Women in Beijing, the UN Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, and the Child Soldiers Conference in Nepal, among others.
Named one of the "100 Global Youth Leaders of Tomorrow" by The World Economic Forum, Ung is the subject of an hour-long documentary for the German ARTE, Japanese NHK, and U.S. NECN. She is also a contributing writer for the groundbreaking film Girl Rising, which profiles nine girls from nine countries, including Cambodia, who are struggling against odds to achieve an education. She has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, London Sunday Times, Biography, Glamour, Jane, and Ms. magazine. In addition, Ung has shared her story on The Diane Rehm Show, Talk of the Nation, Weekend Edition, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, The Today Show with Matt Lauer and Katie Couric, and has appeared on ABC NEWS Nightline, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox, and C-SPAN. She is a recipient of the "Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kil Medal of Honor" (2018).
When not writing or traveling for speaking engagements, Loung can be found riding around Cleveland, Ohio on a tandem bike with her husband Mark Priemer, or at one of their three restaurants and two microbreweries they co-own in Ohio City.
“For me, writing is an internal journey where you go in deep, you reflect, you try to heal your inner child and pains. As an activist, it’s an outward, going wide journey, where you realize that you are connected to a much larger world. And that the story you tell isn’t about you. It’s about a culture, a people, a nation, a family." ~ Loung Ung
SPEAKING TOPICS:
- First They Killed My Father: An Eyewitness Account of the Cambodian Genocide
Also available with a Netflix Original Movie screening/discussion + Q&A - Getting to Resilience: The Key to Bouncing Back Faster and Stronger
- Ordinary Citizens, Extraordinary Leaders: How We Can All Transform Our Community
- War, Love & Survival: lessons from a Cambodian Genocide Survivor on overcoming trauma, finding joy, and standing up against injustices.
- The Power of Narratives: Why Rewriting Your Story Will Change Your Life
- The Art of Memoir Writing: 7 tools to bring your story to life.
- Lucky Child: A Refugee’s Story of Transformation
Loung can also tailor her talk to your organization's mission and event.
LOUNG UNG | SPEAKING TOPIC DESCRIPTIONS …CONNECTING PEOPLE AND IDEAS TO CREATE CHANGE….
“To all the survivors out there, I want them to know that we are stronger and more resilient than we ever knew. We survived, that should be enough but it isn't. We must work hard to become whole again, to fill our soul with love and inspiration, to live the life that was intended for us before it was disrupted by war and horrors, and help rebuild a world that is better than the one we had just left.”
~ Loung Ung
FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER: An Eyewitness Account of the Cambodian Genocide
(Themes: Cambodia, Genocide, War, Children in War, Refugees)
From 1975 to 1979, 1.7 to 2 million Cambodians, a quarter of the country’s population, died under the Khmer Rouge regime. One of seven children of a high-ranking governmental official, Loung Ung was only five when the soldiers stormed into her city, forcing Loung’s family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Orphaned, separated from her siblings, Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans where she was taught to hurt and hate. Harrowing, yet hopeful, Loung’s powerful story is an unforgettable account of a family shaken and shattered, yet miraculously sustained by courage and love in the face of unspeakable brutality. From an innocent chatty girl to a silent child soldier to a bewildered refugee in America, Loung Ung shows that your past does not have to predetermine your future. Through her work, writing and activism, Loung shares how she was able to reclaim her voice, redeem herself, and help many others learn of their own stories.
RESILIENCE: Moving Beyond Surviving to Thriving
(Themes: Resilience, Overcoming Adversities, Leadership)
Since its emergence, reporters and public officials have been comparing the global outbreak of coronavirus to fighting a war. A Khmer Rouge Genocide survivor, Loung Ung knows all too well that we will need to be strategic, united, and most of all, resilient to survive this war and to bounce back from the economic ravages that so many are challenged by. Thankfully, being ‘resilient’ isn’t something one is born with but a set of skills one can build, cultivate, and learn. In her talk, Loung shares the keys to her ‘resilience’, and how it has helped her move from surviving to thriving.
ORDINARY CITIZENS, EXTRAORDINARY LEADERS: Creating Change Through Activism and Volunteerism.
(Themes: Activism, Volunteerism, Leadership)
Peace is not a wish. Peace is not something you want, dream of, and wait for others to deliver. Peace is an action. Many, many actions. Whether in one’s heart, community, or world, peace requires our daily actions. With over three decades of experience as a student activist, a professional agent of change working on campaigns to end violence against women, landmines, and child soldiers, Loung explores how we can all lead in our daily lives to make a difference in our world.
THE POWER OF NARRATIVES: How Rewriting Your Story Will Change Your Life
(Themes: Writing, Creativity, Journaling, Health)
As a child, driven by her inability to speak the words to describe her pain, Loung recorded her thoughts onto the pages of her journals. Many years later, those pages would become her memoir, First They Killed My Father. And through the writing of it, she also came to understand the healing power of writing her story, and of rewriting her narrative from victim to survivor, from scared child to an advocate for peace. In this talk, Loung shares the tools on how you too can rewrite your narrative.
THE ART OF MEMOIR WRITING: 7 Tools To Bring Your Memoir To Life
(Themes: Writing, Creativity, Art, Health)
Having turned her life into three books, Loung Ung knows a thing or two about writing memoirs. In this workshop, Loung shares the seven creative writing tools that will help to bring your words to life; your scenes vivid, and your story memorable and moving.
FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER: A Netflix Original Movie Discussion + Q&A
In 2015, humanitarian-actor-director Angelina Jolie called Loung Ung with a proposal to turn her book into a film. This begins Loung’s three-year journey of learning to write a screenplay (she co-wrote the screenplay for the movie with Angelina), and making a big budget movie in Cambodia with Khmer actors and 20,000 extras. Using film clips and her personal photos, Loung takes the audience through her sometimes-traumatic and other times hilarious four-months stay in Cambodia to bring her words to the screen.
LUCKY CHILD: A Refugee’s Story of Transformation
(Themes: Refugees, Trauma, Activism, Volunteerism)
At the age of eight, Loung Ung was an orphan living on the streets, eating out of garbage cans, hating the world, and wondering why the world hated her. At ten, Loung, ‘the lucky child’ was selected by her adult brother, Meng, and his wife, Eang, to emigrate to America as refugees and start their second life. To do this, they had to leave behind Loung’s beloved sister and two brothers, who she would not see again for fifteen years. Loung’s refugee story is one of overcoming trauma, dislocation, racism, cultural and language barriers to build a successful new life in America. In a world where leaders are often people with well-known names, Loung’s personal heroes are the ordinary people who do extraordinary things on a daily basis. Their act of kindness and generosity restored her faith in compassion, kindness, and humanity.
From a childhood survivor of Cambodia’s brutal Pol Pot regime comes an unforgettable narrative of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving strength of a small girl and her family, and their triumph of spirit. The book is the recipient of the Asian/Pacific American Library Association's Award for Literature (APALA) for "Excellence in Adult Non-Fiction Literature," and has been adapted by Angelina Jolie and the author for the feature film directed and produced by Ms. Jolie for release by Netflix in September, 2017.
See More
After enduring years of hunger, deprivation, and devastating loss at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, ten-year-old Loung Ung having survived the Cambodian genocide, became the "lucky child," the only sibling chosen to accompany her eldest brother to America while her surviving sister and two brothers remained behind. Highlighting the harsh realities of chance and circumstance in times of both war and peace, Lucky Child is ultimately a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the salvaging strength of family bonds.
See More
Concluding the trilogy that started with the bestselling memoir First They Killed My Father, Loung Ung describes her college experience and her first steps into adulthood, revealing her struggle to reconcile with her past while moving forward towards happiness. After the violence of the Khmer Rouge and the difficult assimilation experience of a refugee in America, Loung’s daily struggle to keep darkness, anger, and depression at bay will finally find two unexpected allies: the empowering call of activism, and the redemptive power of love. Lulu in the Sky is the story of Loung’s journey to a Cambodian village to reconnect with her mother’s spirit; to a vocation that will literally allow her to heal the landscape of her birth; and to the transformative influence of a supportive marriage to a loving man.
"Telluride: Angelina Jolie's 'First They Killed My Father' Takes Fest by Storm," Hollywood Reporter - 09/02/17 - based on Loung Ung's Memoir
Speaking about writing.
Slideshow (twice looped) for use as audiences enter auditoriums for Loung's speaking engagements.
Profile video on the bestselling author of First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
The film is based on Loung Ung's bestselling memoir • Netflix Release, September 2017
Good Morning America Interview (February 21, 2017)
Produced and directed by Angelina Jolie, the film is based on the bestselling memoir by Loung Ung.
First They Killed My Father is achieving high praise from critics as a stunning cinematic achievement.
Discussing their film "First They Killed My Father."
Angelina Jolie and Loung Ung respond to fan-submitted questions about First They Killed My Father.
Angelina Jolie and Loung Ung accept "Hollywood Foreign Language Film Award"
Loung's keynote speech for the 2019 annual benefit for The Refugee Response
Inside Angelina Jolie's Netflix Movie 'First They Killed My Father' | Life Stories by Goalcast
Response to Loung's Talks:
"Loung Ung's story of surviving a brutal and terrifying childhood in the war zone of Cambodia reveals the depth and resiliency of the human spirit. Her capacity to share her own journey of surviving trauma and healing is nothing short of stunning. As a master presenter, Loung helps us grieve the horrors we are all touched by and inspires us to reach for a more peaceful and compassionate way of living. Her presence is sheer grace."
Carla Goldstein, Director • Women's Institute at Omega
“Loung delivered a powerful, moving and yet very human story. People watched in total rapt attention, many with tears in their eyes. To this day many still talk about the event and the impact she made. Once you have heard Loung speak, you are captivated, drawn in and left feeling good and wanting to do something positive with your life.”
Tom Wright, General Manager Cathay Pacific Airlines; India & Middle East
“Loung was not only an outstanding speaker but also extremely skilled in shaping her passion and commitment to the theme of Seattle Human Rights Day. The audience was riveted to their seats during her presentation and there were few dry eyes in the house. On behalf of all of us, thank you for helping to make this event one of our best ever.”
Germaine W. Covington, Director, Seattle Office for Civil Rights
“The “All Johnson County Reads the Same Book” planning committee selected Loung Ung’s First They Killed My Father for its community read. It was an outstanding decision… The project culminated in a University of Iowa lecture in which Loung received a standing ovation from an audience of over 500 who were captured by the substance of the subject matter and her passion for social justice.”
Chivy Sok, Deputy Director, University of Iowa, Center for Human Rights
"Loung was just lovely: gracious, vibrant, a riveting speaker. And we greatly appreciated her interest in our work and all the ways she wove it into her interviews and address." (Speaking before an audience of 1,500 at the organization's annual fundraising luncheon, November, 2017, setting a new record.)
Michele Chiuse, Director of Communications, Rosie's Place, Boston, MA
“Loung was personable, engaging, and thoughtful, and her interactions with my students was tremendously touching and authentic. The evening presentation brought in a full house (on a weeknight!) and the audience hung on her every word – you could have heard a pin drop. I would strongly recommend a visit by Ms. Ung – the impact she had on us as a school and as individuals was deep and moving.”
Aya Murata, Advisor to Asian and Asian American Student Phillips Academy
"Loung Ung’s presentation was truly inspirational. Her ability and disarming use of humor took the audience with her, no doubt surprised to find themselves sharing laughter along the way. Loung’s life-affirming energy represents a triumph of the human spirit over adversity."
John Watson, Programme Director, Amnesty International
“Loung’s voice is powerful! She reminds us of our common humanity while appreciating cultural differences that make us unique. She focused on the role of biography in shaping who and what we are – but not allowing it to limit our vision of ourselves or each other. Her message inspired our clinicians to better understand the perspective of those whom we serve.”
Shed Boren, PhD Administrator / CEO Sister Emmanuel Hospital
“Loung Ung gives a face and voice to a topic that could otherwise be almost inaccessible due its great sadness and weight: the topic of war and genocide. Ms. Ung has the compassion and spirit necessary to connect with audiences that might otherwise be overwhelmed by the menace and malice of history. Her story, as tragic as it might be, fills the listener with a sense of hope, direction, and purpose. Whereas her subject matter is as difficult and challenging as it gets, Loung Ung’s presence is a straightforward testimony of human strength and the possibility of good rising from evil.”
Dan Scheibe, Assistant Head of School Middlesex School
“Outstanding! She connected with students, staff and parents. Her sense of social justice and humanity have touched the minds, hearts and souls of our community. Although she is now gone, her influence will continue to resonate for many people. On a pragmatic level, her experience as a survivor and a humanitarian have provided us with insights and shifts that will shape the way we think about and support service learning for our students in our school.”
Mark R. Boyer Assistant Superintendent for Learning Singapore American School
"Loung Ung is an inspirational speaker and dedicated humanitarian. She empowered the UW Khmer students to learn more about their own histories, culture and to follow their passions to create change for a better tomorrow and future. Loung's strength and courage inspired them to take leadership positions and find their own opportunities for advocacy in both local and global communities."
Linda M. Ando, University of Washington, Academic Counselor & Khmer Student Organization Adviser
“Loung Ung’s story as a young child in Cambodia and her struggles and triumphs to overcome her traumas in America were inspiring, eloquent, and powerful. The concept of the “American Dream” was put into perspective and made a powerful statement to our students. Individuals who were unaware of the genocide in Cambodia learned through the eyes of a young child and a woman who has made a commitment to speak on behalf of those who have passed.”
Kristen Dvorsky, Events Coordinator, Office of Student Activities Fisher College
“Loung’s story and presentation was incredibly engaging and captivating as it left an auditorium full of high school students in awe. Loung has the unique ability to tell her story to students by making it relevant to them and making them feel like they experienced her life. She inspired an entire school – teachers and students – and the community by her visit.”
Craig Divis, 2010 Vermont Teacher of the Year, Bellows Falls Union High School
“Loung connected with students, staff and parents. Her sense of social justice and humanity has touched the minds, hearts and souls of our community. Although she is now gone, her influence will continue to resonate for many people.”
Mark R. Boyer, Assistant Superintendent Singapore American School
"Your presentation was absolutely riveting; the impact of your story, your wisdom, and the vital information you conveyed regarding the realities of landmines in our world reached our community on a very deep level. Students, parents, faculty, staff, and members of the wider community were galvanized by your presence and your message... There are rare times when someone touches a community, and that community is forever changed. This was one of those moments; and you are that person."
Amelia Becker, School Minister, Mercersburg Academy
“Loung Ung’s presentation inspired me and influenced me to change my way of existing.”
Brittany St. John, Student
“Loung Ung taught me how to view life in a different way. I realize that I am fortunate to be living the life I live.”
Luis Gallego, Student
Praise for First They Killed My Father
In this gripping narrative, Loung Ung describes the unfathomable evil that engulfed Cambodia during her childhood, the courage that enabled her to survive, and the determination that has made her an eloquent voice for peace and justice in Cambodia. It is a tour-de-force that strengthened our resolve to prevent and punish crimes against humanity.
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, Congressional Leader on Human Rights and a Global Ban on Land Mines
“This book left me gasping for air… In the end, the horror of the Cambodian genocide is matched only by the author’s indomitable spirit.”
Iris Chang, Author of The Rape of Nanking
“A riveting memoir… an important, moving work that those who have suffered cannot afford to forget and those who have been spared cannot afford to ignore.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“Ung tells her stories straightforwardly, vividly, and without any strenuous effort to explicate their importance, allowing the stories themselves to create their impact.”
The New York Times
“Loung has written an eloquent and powerful narrative as a young witness to the Khmer Rouge atrocities. This is an important story that will have a dramatic impact on today’s readers and inform generations to come.”
Dith Pran, whose wartime life was portrayed in the award-winning film “The Killing Fields”
“This is a story of the triumph of a child’s indomitable spirit over the tyranny of the Khmer Rouge; over a culture where children are trained to become killing machines. Despite the heartache, I could not put the book down until I reached the end.”
Queen Noor of Jordan, Founder, Women and Development Project
“Despite the tragedy all around her, this scrappy kid struggles for life and beats the odds. I thought young Ung’s story would make me sad. But this spunky child warrior carried me with her in her courageous quest for life. Reading these pages has strengthened me in my own struggle to disarm the powers of violence in this world.”
Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., Author of Dead Man Walking
“This is a harrowing, compelling story. Evoking a child’s voice and viewpoint, Ung has written a book filled with vivid and unforgettable details. I lost a night’s sleep to this book because I literally could not put it down, and even when I finally did, I lost another night’s sleep just from the sheer echoing power of it.
Lucy Grealy, Author of Autobiography of a Face
“Ung’s memoir should serve as a reminder that some history is best not left just to historians, but to those left standing when the terror ends.”
Booklist
“Skillfully constructed, this account also stands as an eyewitness history of the period, because as a child Ung was so aware of her surrounding, and because as an adult writer she adds details to clarify the family’s moves and separations…. This powerful account is a triumph.”
Publishers Weekly
Praise for Lucky Child:
"I encourage everyone to read this deeply moving and very important book. Equal to the strength of the book, is the woman who wrote it. She is a voice for her people and they are lucky to have her."
Angelina Jolie, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador
"Many recent books have told the tale of genocide and survival, but in Lucky Child Loung Ung has given us a book as unusual as it is heartbreaking -- the story of a family torn in two after genocide... Loung has managed to follow First They Killed My Father with a book every bit as gripping and important, and she has given us a unique glimpse into America's 'melting pot' a melting pot born of indescribable suffering but brimming with irrepressible life."
Samantha Power, author of A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide
"Ung helps understand what happens when a family is torn apart by politics, adversity, and war. Change the names of characters, give them another country of origin, and this story of dislocation becomes a tragedy millions of immigrants have lived through but seldom talk about... Ung's story is a compelling and inspirational one that touches universal chords. Americans would do well to read it, no matter where they were born."
Washington Post Book World
Praise for Lulu in the Sky:
"Loung Ung makes Lulu in the Sky shimmer with renewal after the Cambodian killing fields.”
Cleveland Plain Dealer
"You can't help liking and admiring this young woman. . . . [A] lively, humorous account . . . when you arrive at the hard-earned happy ending, it's with a sigh of deep relief."
Washington Post
First They Killed My Father
Film Press:
"Telluride: Angelina Jolie’s 'First They Killed My Father’ Takes Fest by Storm"
~ Hollywood Reporter (09/02/2017)
"Angelina Jolie Gets Standing Ovation for ‘Cambodia’ Film at Telluride"
~ Variety (09/02/2017)
Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father hailed her best film, gets standing ovation at Telluride. Cambodian-set adaptation of Loung Ung’s memoir praised by critics.
~ Entertainment Weekly (09/02/2017)
"Toronto film festival: First They Killed My Father review, Angelina Jolie's triumph spotlights casualties of war"
~ The Guardian (09/12/2017)
"Review: In Angelina Jolie’s New Movie, a Child’s-Eye View of War, FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER: A DAUGHTER OF CAMBODIA REMEMBERS"
~ New York Times (09/13/2017)
"First They Killed My Father Is a Surprising, Devastating Triumph."
~ The Atlantic (09/15/2017)
Angelina Jolie profile focuses on First They Killed My Father. Includes video, "Anatomy of a scene" from the film.
~ New York Times (09/13/2017)
Angelina Jolie's Vanity Fair Cover Story (09/2017)
"Cambodia Picks Angelina Jolie's 'First They Killed My Father' as Oscar Contender"
~ Variety (09/18/2017)
Book Press:
“A riveting memoir… an important, moving work that those who have suffered cannot afford to forget and those who have been spared cannot afford to ignore.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“Ung tells her stories straightforwardly, vividly, and without any strenuous effort to explicate their importance, allowing the stories themselves to create their impact.”
The New York Times
“There can be absolutely no question about the innate power of Ung’s story, the passion with which she tells it, or its enduring importance.”
Washington Post Book World
“Ung’s memoir should serve as a reminder that some history is best not left just to historians, but to those left standing when the terror ends.”
