Angelina Jolie has come under fierce criticism for describing the casting of Cambodian children in her new film, in which the team gave the impoverished youngsters money and then pretended to take it away from them, awarding roles to the children who looked the most upset.

Jolie, a noted humanitarian and UN Goodwill Ambassador, whose efforts in Iraq, Bosnia, Haiti and Rwanda led to her working in cooperation with former foreign secretary William Hague, was speaking about the process of making her latest film, First They Killed My Father.

The tale is a true-life story of Loung Ung and the horrors of Pol Pot’s regime.

Jolie told Vanity Fair about the process of casting the children in the film, travelling to orphanages, circuses and slum schools “seeking children who had experienced hardship”.

The journalist writes: “In order to find their lead, to play young Loung Ung, the casting directors set up a game, rather disturbing in its realism: they put money on the table and asked the child to think of something she needed the money for, and then to snatch it away. The director would pretend to catch the child, and the child would have to come up with a lie.”