Back in her groove. Angelina Jolie stepped out in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on Saturday, February 18, ahead of her First They Killed My Father premiere, and brought all six of children along with her to meet the king.
Jolie, 41, kept her look modest in a knee-length black dress with lace detailing, with minimal makeup and her hair worn down in loose waves. Her six children — Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 10 and twins Vivienne and Knox, 8 — similarly dressed up for the fete, with all of the children in monochromatic suits and outfits.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference after meeting with King Norodom Sihamoni, the Maleficent actress likened Cambodia to “a second home” and noted that “Maddox is happy to be back in his country.” (She adopted her eldest son in 2002.)
“The children are very close to the children who are in the film and, in fact, many of them are best friends,” she added. “So, they’re simply happy to be back with their friends.”
First They Killed My Father is based on an autobiography by Cambodian human-rights activist Loung Ung, a friend of Jolie’s, and details the Communist Khmer Rouge’s regime in the 1970s.
“I read Loung’s book many years ago,” Jolie told reporters. “It helped to open my eyes to what was going on in the world. I wanted to tell the story through the eyes of the child’s point of view, the love of a family, to show the beauty of the country and understand what Maddox’s parents may have gone through.”
Jolie’s Saturday appearance marks one of her first public appearances since her headline-making split from her husband, Brad Pitt, last September, though the UNHCR special envoy has been vocal about her concerns regarding the Syrian refugee crisis in recent months.