Martial arts star Jackie Chan said Friday that he plans to educate the world about the plight of landmine victims in Cambodia the best way he knows how: By making a movie.
Chan, a goodwill ambassador for UN Children’s Fund, has been touring landmine sites and visiting mine victims in Cambodia since Wednesday.
“Whatever I see, it makes me worry,” he said at a news conference in Phnom Penh on Friday. “Every day I’m thinking, ‘How many people got hurt, how many people died today?’”
His concern prompted him to plan a movie about Cambodia, and on this trip he brought a scriptwriter, assistant director and producer with him to scout locations and conduct research.
He said the movie will likely be set in the 1980s in Cambodia, when peace was just starting to emerge. The film is still in its initial stages, he said, but will likely include “drama, action and explosions” and a message about banning mines. He wants to train 50 to 60 Cambodian children as actors for use in the film.
He said he hopes to start filming at the end of this year or early 2006.
Chan spent his time in Cambodia visiting hospitals, schools and areas laced with undetonated mines in Battambang province and Pailin.
He first visited Cambodia in 2004 to promote HIV/AIDS education. He said he was struck then by the injuries caused each year by mines.
Joining Chan on the trip was US Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses, chairman of Laureus World Sports Academy, an organization that aims to use athletics as a force for social change. Moses said Friday that his organization hopes to partner with Chan’s foundation to launch athletics activities for Cambodian children.
“These kids do not have the opportunity to be kids,” he said.
