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Step by Step

Step by Step is short awareness information film designed for social media platforms to be short and engaging in an ever decreasing attention span on social media.

It Highlights the work and story of a young Cambodian man, an ex- Khmer Rouge child soldier named Aki Ra, who had started a small landmine museum in Cambodia, was searching for landmines by hand and defusing them with a stick that he was personally responsible in laying as a child soldier. His aim in life to make his country safe again.

Since 1992 he has personally removed and destroyed as many as 50,000 landmines; all for free. , and is the founder of the Cambodian Landmine Museum, Bill Morse; all for free. Aki Ra had also established a ‘relief center’, a home for wounded and abandoned children, He and his wife Hourt were caring for over a dozen of these kids.

In 2003 Bill Morse heard a story about a young Cambodian man. Bill and his wife were so intrigued by the story that they travelled to Cambodia to find this man and meet him. After spending two (2) days with Aki Ra and Hourt, they returned to the United States and established a charity Land Mine Relief Fund to help Aki Ra clear landmines.

Today Bill and his wife Jill live in Siem Reap overseeing the work of the work of the LMRF. Bill is also the International Project Manager for CSHD and the Project Manager for the Cambodia Landmine Museum. Jill runs the English language program at the Museum Relief Center and manages the volunteer program and “give land back” to the people by building schools on the land that they have cleared from mines and UXO through their rural village school program.

  • Simon Taplin
    Director
  • Scott Povey
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 11 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Cambodia
  • Country of Filming:
    Cambodia
  • Shooting Format:
    Panasonic GH4
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Social Media
    Rights: Internet
Director Biography - Simon Taplin

“As a creative, I see myself in a constant process of exploration. Photography and film are my choices of medium. Experimenting with both cutting edge and traditional technologies have created some of my most appreciated work, sometimes by design and sometimes by happy accident!”

Simon has been photographing professionally for well over 20 years.

He has worked for some of the world’s most famous brands and has been internationally recognised for it. His work can be found in D&AD, The One Show, Communication Arts and publications such as Archive and PDN.

Simon remains however, a non–conformist in both his style and concepts of the work he produces. Experimentation forms the backbone of his practice and he is currently working with video graphics and in parallel, platinum and palladium print technique. He also continues to experiment with abstract aerial concepts, since becoming a qualified pilot in 2008.

Over the past decade, Simon has divided much of his time between Asia and Europe. Shooting across the cultural spectrum keeps Simon’s concepts and style fresh, his mind open and it has imbued him with a strong sense of empathy.

That sense of empathy led him to embark upon significant educational and philanthropic work through film and photography in developing countries, a result of which was a student of his Aperture Asia winning 2016 Cambodian Young film maker of the Year.

For a while Simon was appointed Canon ambassador but that ended abruptly when he was found to be shooting with a Nikon. He now sticks to his preferred equipment to get the best outcome for the client and leaves corporate sponsorship to those better suited to working within its limitations.

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Director Statement

Inspired by the present and capturing it meaningfully.