Cannes Film Festival 2024
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.
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.
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