When Dr. Haing S. Ngor was forced into labor camps by the Khmer Rouge, little did he know he would escape years of torture and recreate his experiences in a film that would win him an Academy Award®. "The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor" tells the dramatic story about arguably the most recognizable survivor of the Cambodian genocide, a man who became a worldwide ambassador for justice in his homeland, only to be murdered in a Los Angeles Chinatown alley - a case still muddled with conspiracy theories. Through an inspired blend of original animation and rare archival material - anchored by Ngor's richly layered autobiography - the years encapsulating the Khmer Rouge's tyrannical rule over Cambodia are experienced though a politically charged transnational journey of loss and reconciliation.
It's Seattle 2006: A refugee teenager from Cambodia begins recording a video diary early in the summer to explain the meaning of "thug life." But ultimately his summer is defined by tragedy. Awarded Best Documentary at the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival 2019
The Khmer Empire - officially 'The Angkor Empire' was a powerful 13th century Hindu-Buddhist state in Southeast Asia. Using sophisticated technologies to see inside Khmer temples, combined with statues, casts, and documents discovered by 19th century explorers, scientists today discover how they operated, the meaning of their architecture, and how the capital become the largest city in the world.
A powerful feature documentary about child sexploitation, an epidemic happening in every country around the world. Filmed over a four year period, REDLIGHT focuses on the personal stories of young Cambodian victims and two remarkable advocates for change: grass-roots activist Somaly Mam and politician Mu Sochua. Using gritty footage smuggled out of brothels and harrowing testimonials, REDLIGHT follows the plight of several current and former child sex slaves. Some are trying to regain entry into Cambodian society to find some semblance of normality after their horrific experiences. Other stories highlight the plight of victims who are attempting to bring the perpetrators to justice. Their torturous yet ultimately heroic battles to find witnesses and take brothel owners to court are dramatically brought to life in this topical and moving feature documentary.
Over three million Cambodians died in the genocide between 1975 and 1979. The Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror also decimated a homegrown film industry that had flourished since 1960: movie theaters were bombed, film prints were destroyed and artists were executed. In Golden Slumbers, French-Cambodian filmmaker Davy Chou mourns this loss of lives and culture, but balances the somber material with a playfulness that honors the lush melodramas and mythic adventures of the glory years.
Short documentary on the Cambodian Handicraft Association which trains and supports women who have been affected by polio, landmine injuries, deafness or mental trauma.
Il a besoin
This is the original version of the much heralded "Raising The Bamboo Curtain" narrated and produced by legendary travel filmmaker Rick Ray. (Rick later sold partial rights to this program to another producer who hired Martin Sheen to narrate - that cut down and rewritten version is not the same). Sneaking his cameras past Burmese and Cambodian customs officials and getting around the country to produce one of the best travel docs ever made, Rick has outdone himself - again!
Since the fall of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, Cambodia has struggled to find its uniqueness and rebuild its society. Waiting For Cambodia features interviews and discussions with a variety of citizens, many of who represent a face of change and hope, and many who remain dedicated to the Khmer Rouge ideology. Images of cultural beauty are displayed through ritualistic dance and song, serving as a powerful accompaniment to the rough images of conflict. The attempts to regain culture, individual rights, and freedom are prevalent themes within the film, and footage of Cambodian relief camps and liberation organizations are displayed as efforts of change.
Uncover the lost secrets of a once-mighty empire. The city of Angkor, the seat of the great Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia for 500 years, was once the biggest city in the world. For centuries, this incredible civilization flourished, building the largest religious monument on Earth, Angkor Wat, and mastering urban engineering in a challenging landscape. But then it was mysteriously abandoned, swallowed by the jungle. Now, cutting-edge technology and new discoveries are finally revealing how this astounding empire rose to global prominence – and what likely led to its devastating collapse.
On April 17, 1975, the face of Cambodia would forever be changed. As Khmer Rouge soldiers marched into the capital city of Phnom Penh, the unsuspecting people of Cambodia had little idea they would be forced into a living nightmare that would last nearly four years. Rain Falls From Earth is a story of courage, a story of survival and a story of eventual triumph over the Communist regime that was responsible for the deaths of over two million people. The voices of many Cambodians are heard as they convey their thoughts, ideas and emotions - the very things they were forced to abandon in the "killing fields" of Cambodia. Their stories are an eyewitness account to genocide.
Hope and closure are not always words that come to mind when discussing a film about the Khmer Rouge, whose bloody, fanatical rule from 1975 to 1979 resulted in the deaths of more than two million people from starvation, disease, torture and executions. But these two do come together, despite the pain of memories, in Cambodia After Farewell, a well-acclaimed, 100-minute documentary by French Cambodian director Iv Charbonneau-Ching and Jeremy Knittel to mark 4 decades since the Khmer Rouge took control of the Southeast Asian country to put in place the purest form of communism and the ideal agrarian society. The documentary follows the journey back to Cambodia – and into the past – of the family of Iv Charbonneau-Ching, with his mother and aunt, as they reconstruct, piece by piece, what happened to the family members they lost to the Khmer Rouge.
Cirque du Cambodia follows the journey of two youths who live out every child's fantasy - to run away from home and join the circus. But not just any circus - they dream of taking the stage with Cirque du Soleil, the largest theatrical company in the world. Their home, a poor village in the ancient, faraway Kingdom of Cambodia, makes their quest even more extraordinary....
An overview of the ruins of Angkor, the former capital of the Khmer Empire.
Bill and Jill Morse moved to Cambodia twenty years ago to help with landmine removal and never looked back. Along the way, many surprises happened. Today, their impact goes beyond anything they would have imagined.
An experimental film revisiting the entangled histories of borders, ancient sites, nationhood, and politics—emerging from the Thai-Cambodian border conflict under the shadow of colonial cartography, modern nation-states, and Thai political tensions.
Les Pépites
Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.
Between April, 1975 and January, 1979, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge were responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million people in Cambodia. A quarter of the population were wiped out in one of the most brutal and virulent genocides of the twentieth century. This new film explores the life of Pol Pot, the ever-smiling, obsessively secretive leader of the Khmer Rouge. What drove him to inflict such a radical experiment on his own people? How did the Khmer Rouge turn from a band of nationalist revolutionaries into a ruthless killing machine? And why did the West stand by and let it happen? As an international tribunal in Cambodia finally brings the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge to justice, it's time to re-examine the gruesome legacy of Pol Pot.
Narratives of Modern Genocide challenges the audience to experience first-person accounts of survivors of genocide. Sichan Siv and Gilbert Tuhabonye share how they escaped the killing fields of Cambodia, and the massacre of school children in Burundi. Mixing haunting animation, and expert context the film confronts our notion that the holocaust was the last genocide.