"Born in a Thai refugee camp on the Cambodian New Year, documentary filmmaker Socheata Poeuv was deemed by her family 'the lucky one,' fated to good fortune. As a child growing up in the United States, she knew that her parents had survived brutal oppression and genocide under the Khmer Rouge, but they never spoke of it aloud, and she had never witnessed any atrocities firsthand. Nevertheless, black-clothed figures made their way into her nightmares, and lurked in the shadows of her bedroom.

Twenty-five years later in the suburbs of Texas, her parents make a startling admission, and the impact of the Khmer Rouge suddenly becomes very real. Impelled to confront and give human face to her childhood shadows, Socheata travels to Cambodia to unravel the mystery shrouding her family's survival and eventual escape. Her voyage parallels her family’s emotional journey through a series of revelations: unimaginable sacrifice; promises made and kept; the fierce and solemn love for those who were left behind, and finally, one long unsung hero, a 'Cambodian cowboy,' is unveiled.

With disarming candor, humor and poetic animation Poeuv's debut feature resurrects memory and personal history to reclaim her family’s past, and what is easily a heartbreaking story also becomes one of triumph. Winner of both the 'Top Ten Audience Pick' and Amnesty International's 'Movies that Matter' award at the 2006 International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam, NEW YEAR BABY is a testament to one father’s extraordinary bravery, and the love that binds a family together." --Ellen Park, 2007 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival