Cambodia After Pol Pot: Death, Rebirth And "Conscience Of Nhem Em"

Monday, October 25, 2010

Phnom Penh: At Meta House at 7PM on Thursday, there will be Documentaries by Khmer and international filmmakers focus on Pol Pot’s legacy. The M.E.T.A. doc film THE PEPPERFIELDS: FROM GENOCIDE TO GLOBALIZATION is followed by “KAMPUCHEA: DEATH AND REBIRTH” (1979, 90mins). The first documentary after KR was shot by famous GDR filmmakers Heynowski and Scheumann. The scenes filmed during spring 1979 are part of history: Phnom Penh left to rampant nature, heaps of skulls and destroyed faces. THE CONSCIENCE OF NHEM EM (2008, 26mins) was nominated for an Oscar. US director Steven Okazaki focuses on Toul Sleng prison photographer Nhem En and tells the story of the havoc, that Pol Pot’s reign wrecked on Cambodians.