filmmakers kalyanee mam and gary marcuse on how cultural traditions intersect with economic growth in cambodia and china. coming up on "earth focus." kalyanee: as an immigrant, as a refugee, you know, from cambodia, my family and i, you know, fled cambodia when i was four years old. and what i realized was what happening in areng valley was that the people were also being threatened by the same kind of displacement and uprootedness. and what i've seen with the chong people is that they live a very beautiful le, completely connected to nature, and i was inspired to make this film to help people understand, you know, how important that connection is. [baby fusses] kalyanee: so the chong people have been living in areng valley, you know, for over 600 years. and we went back to cambodia to film and i discovered, you know, two of the most amazing people i've ever met in my life. and what i discovered was that they are probably one of the most rooted and grounded people i've ever met, and the reason is because of their connection to the land. you know, they feel so grateful for nature becau

gary marcuse: i had d been filming in china since 2008, when i first statarted to memeet some o of thekind of leadingg environmentatal activists and journalilists in china. when my friend liu jianqiang said he's becoming a buddhist, particularly a tibetan buddhist, i was very curious about why.y. we'd d already decided we would make a litittle documentary that would sort of show people what it is that has attracted himim, but when i asksked him just in shorthand, you know, what is it that you're looking for in a religion, in a faith, in a culture? and he said, well, you know, for 15 yeaears, he saiaid, i'ven reporting on the environment, and in that time, everything is still getting worse. so you begin to feel like what's the point? yoyou know, we're exhauausted, we're burned out. and he said d i needed something momore enduring, something f for the longerer term, somethihing t would allow me to have a littlee bit more faith in my own work. well, i asked liu jianqiang, how would we show people what it is about the tibetans that really appeal t to you? and he said, well, you should just