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"If I ever make it out of here alive," the boy pledged to himself, "I'm going to make movies." Determination led Academy of Art University's School of Motion Pictures and Television's Daron Ker to grasp the guidance and opportunity at the Academy to see his dreams fulfilled while remembering his Cambodian roots.

In the 70's, Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian Communist regime, was led by Pol Pot, who attempted to alter Cambodia through genocide on an unimaginable scale. The Khmer Rouge attempted to eliminate any individual with an education or Western ties. So Daron's father led the family towards a Thailand refugee camp. "I was young, so I thought we were just playing," Daron said.

It was in the refugee camp that Daron discovered his obsession with film, beginning with Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus projected onto a tattered bed sheet. His family moved to southern California, next to a drive-in theater. "We could see the movie from across the street," he said. "I was glued to watching films. My parents wondered why I was always in front of the TV watching the same films."

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Resources:

www.academyart.edu/film-school/

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