Synopsis : Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia),1978. Three French journalists are invited by the Khmer Rouge to conduct an exclusive interview of the regime’s leader, Pol Pot. The country seems ideal. But behind the Potemkin village, the Khmer Rouge regime is declining and the war with Vietnam threatens to invade the country. The regime is looking for culprits, secretly carrying out a large scale genocide. Under the eyes of the journalists, the beautiful picture cracks, revealing the horror within. Freely inspired by journalist Elizabeth Becker’s account in When The War Was Over.
Festival History : Cannes Film Festival 2024
Director :
Rithy Panh
Producer :
Pierre Erwan Guillaume, Rithy Panh, Elizabeth Becker (Author, When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution)
Screenplay :
Catherine Dussart, Rithy Panh, Justine O., Roger Huang, Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Hanaa Issa, Mehmet Zahid Sobaci, Muhammed Ziyad Varol, Mirsad Purivatra, Jovan Marjanović, Georges-Marc Benamou
DOP :
Aymerick Pilarski, Mesa Prum
Editor :
Rithy Panh, Matthieu Laclau
Cast :
Irène Jacob, Grégoire Colin, Cyril Guei, Bunhok Lim, Somaline Mao
At the age of 11, like all Cambodians, Rithy Panh was
interned in Khmer Rouge camps for rehabilitation through
labor. He moved to France, and in 1985 entered the IDHEC film school. His filmography includes Irradiated (2020, Berlinale – Golden Bear for Best Documentary), The Missing Picture (2013, Festival de Cannes – Un Certain Regard, Winner of Best Film; Oscar 2014, Nominee, Best Foreign Language Film) among others.