Angelina Jolie has been keeping a relatively low profile since filing for divorce from Brad Pitt last September.
However, yesterday, the mother-of-six made her first official appearance in Siem Reap, Cambodia at the premiere of her latest film, First They Killed My Father, along with her children.
The 41-year-old gave a free public screening of the memoir-based drama about the war time experiences of her friend and former refugee, Cambodian Loung Un, as a child, and was joined by her children Maddox, 15 – who was adopted from Cambodia in 2002 – Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 10 and eight-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.
The Tomb Raider star looked in good spirits, wearing a simple black dress with lace detailing on the shoulders at the premiere and was later invited to meet Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni at his royal residence.
In a recent interview with the Guardian, the actress – who has Cambodian citizenship – opened up about the reasons behind directing the project.
She said: 'I wanted to focus not just on the war but on the love of family and on the beauty of the country and in fact I wanted to understand what my son's birth parents may have gone through.
Crediting her eldest son Maddox for persuading her to make the film – which is set for release on Netflix –, Jolie said of her child: 'I wanted to know him better and I wanted to know this country better.
'He was the one who just called it and said he was ready and that he wanted to work on it, which he did. He read the script, helped with notes, and was in the production meetings,' she revealed.
The film is based on the memoirs of Loung Ung who was five-years-old when Khmer Rouge troops came into her town and sent her family to brutal labour camps before she escaped to the US.
In the years between 1975 and 1979, the regime killed up to two million Cambodians through execution and starvation, according to the Mail Online.
Jolie's trip to Cambodia comes months after her high-profile split from her husband of two years, with whom she's currently locked in a custody battle over their children.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
