Based on true events.
Sang Ly lives at Cambodia's city dump and is grateful she can help earn
a living for her family by sifting through the trash for recyclables and
things which can be repaired and sold. On a good day, she can earn
enough to buy food for her family. She needs enough good days so she can
pay the rent collector, Sopeap--a grumpy old woman who shows no mercy
and who is willing to evict any tenant who can't pay their rent on time.
When Sang Ly is unable to pay her rent for the month, she fears her
family will have to leave the dump and their shanty home--a place where
her only possessions can be carried in two hands. Little does she know
that a discarded children's book found among the mounds of trash would
save her. When Sopeap sees the book lying on Sang Ly's cardboard bed,
her mood changes. Sang Ly offers her the book if she is allowed to keep
her family at the dump.
An unlikely friendship develops between the two women, and Sang Ly
learns that Sopeap knows how to read--something Sang Ly has always
wanted to learn. Being able to read could transform Sang Ly's world
beyond the predictable confines of the dump and lead to a future with
possibilities and hope.
But the rent collector has a secret and tragic past, one that will not
be easy for Sang Ly to navigate. With the help of her supportive
husband, Ki Lim, and a helpful and humorous boy, Lucky Fat, Sang Ly
embarks on a life-changing journey to give her young son, Nisay, a
better life and future.
The Rent Collector is about the power of literacy, the influence of
the past, and finding hope, resiliency, and empowerment in the face of
seemingly endless hardship.
