Lotus Sports Club

Shot in Cambodia over 5 years, LOTUS SPORTS CLUB, is an inspiring coming-of-age story that centers around Leak, a teenage trans man who plays football in the under-21s women’s team of Kampong Chhnang, and Pa Vann, the coach and father figure to Leak and other LGBTQ+ players on the team.

61-year-old Pa Vann established the football team in 2009 to encourage solidarity among straight, lesbian, and gender-diverse players. He also opened his home to the more vulnerable, often homeless teenagers, including Leak, thus providing these LGBTQ+ players a safe place to be themselves.

After living with Pa Vann for many years, Leak, driven by the pressure to make more money for his family and forced off the football team because of his age, takes the heart-breaking decision to move to Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, leaving behind the one person he has loved the most.

Director Biography

Born in 1984, Cambodian documentary filmmaker Vanna Hem has established himself as one of Cambodia’s leading voices in social and LGBTQ+ films. His credits include the short-form documentaries LIVES UNDER THE RED LIGHT (2014), KARMA (2013), and WHERE DO I BELONG? (2016), which have all been selected in many international film festivals. Since 2015, Vanna has been working on his first feature-length documentary LOTUS SPORTS CLUB, while shooting videos for many other NGOs. He currently lives in Phnom Penh.