This is the story of a snake. Its not one that literally bites (though a cobra does get a bit part) nor is it a supernatural snake, though they are commonplace in ethnographic films. This snake is in fact a fiber-optic cable that is being buried by legions of toiling, migrant peasants. The paradoxes of building the infrastructure of globalization by hand and hoe are clearly played out in this fascinating and disturbing portrait of the diggers and their families. Still suffering from a generation of warfare in Cambodia, and vulnerable to the vicissitudes of a fragile peasant economy in disarray, the fate of these people, untrained, undernourished, and exploited, remains in their own hands. This is a worthwhile and well-made film-required viewing for those of us interested in human rights in a world of instantaneous communication for the very few.-Thor Anderson