The Power of Beauty

SYNOPSIS

“I tell people I didn’t pick Cambodia. Cambodia picked me,” explains Matthew Fairfax about his sudden decision to move to Cambodia and help human trafficking survivors build new lives.
An entrepreneur in the business of hairdressing, Fairfax founded an academy - the Kate Korpi Salon, a Western-style, high end salon created specifically for the purpose of educating sex traffic survivors and underprivileged Cambodian youth, who would have never had such an opportunity.
In this short documentary we follow the lives of two students, Srey Mom Sao and Sok Peter Vanndy. Each has experienced a traumatic past. They are the first two students to graduate from the Kate Korpi Academy. “They were the pioneers, they were the teachers, they taught us how to do what we are doing,” comments Fairfax.
The camera follows Sao and Vanndy throughout the days leading up to their graduation and during the ceremony itself. In an explosion of tears and emotions, the viewer experiences their raw emotions and the difference between their personalities. But what also emerges with great clarity is the resiliency of the human spirit with the right nurture and support. “That’s the power of beauty,” explains Fairfax.