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Confessions of genocide: Enemies of the People | Film | Cambodia
By Jordana MahWhen I saw the trailer for the feature film Enemies of the People recently on ChannelAPA, I literally felt proverbial chills go down my spine. In the 2:20 minute long trailer, an agonizing thread of a story is dangled before the viewer, drawing you into its stark and haunting true tale.
Enemies of the People is a blazingly honest documentary by one of Cambodia's most well-known journalists, Thet Sambath. In the film, we follow Sambath on his journey to find the truth behind the horrific killings of the 1970s in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge regime - killings that included Sambath's own family. What makes the impact of this film so much more immediate than most, is that Sambath takes us into the heart and minds of the ones we don't want to empathize with the most: the ones behind the deaths of 2 million people.
Giving testimonies never before seen, or heard on film are the soldiers who carried out the killings, as well as the Khmer Rouge's ideological leader, Nuon Chea, aka Brother Number Two. Somehow Sambath managed to befriend Brother Number Two and gained his trust, so that he eventually reveals the intent and flawed ideologies that led to one of the most terrible massacres of the 20th century.
How Sambath was able to accomplish such amazing feats is beyond me, but he explains his extraordinary work with humility:
"My sources are country people. The Khmer Rouge were all country people. They don't talk to people from the city, let alone foreigners. I am a country person. I think that's why, in the end, they talk to me. I am one of them."
Having already won dozens of documentary festival awards, including a Special Jury Prize at Sundance and the Grand Jury Award at the Full Frame Documentary Festival, the buzz around Enemies of the People is only growing. While many claim various films are a "must-see," this film definitely deserves that title more than many others.
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July 23, 2010 at 12:22 AM
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PEOPLE TO WATCH |
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