AKI - Adnkronos InternationalRome, 24 Oct. (AKI) - An award-winning Cambodian movie director who was to present his latest film at the Rome Film Festival on Friday, says his country needs to cultivate young artists. Rithy Panh told Adnkronos International (AKI) that his country had suffered a great deal because of conflict and war and young people did not have enough opportunities.
Panh (photo) spoke to AKI before the first screening outside Cambodia of his movie, entitled 'Un Barrage contre le Pacifique' or 'The Sea Wall', which was adapted from a 1950's novel by French writer, Marguerite Duras.
"This country (Cambodia) is full of young people, sons of the post-genocidal years," he told AKI. "My generation suffered heavy losses, and today for example, there are few artists, writers, directors.
"So it is necessary to take care of the generation of young people between 25 and 30 years of age, otherwise we will be forced to face new and more serious problems," said Panh.
Panh's film is set in 1931 in French Indochina which is now Cambodia. The story is about a French widow and her two children, who make a living from rice fields near the ocean.
Every year, their fields are flooded with sea water and their crops are destroyed. Their only hope seems to be the construction of a sea wall. The mother battles nature and local bureaucrats to raise her two children, who have to struggle with issues of racism and financial woes.
Panh has been recognised for his previous work. His successful documentary "S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine" won the Prix François Chalais prize at the Cannes film festival in 2003.
"The awards help in finding stability, security and to also obtain material more easily for shooting a film," said Panh.
Cambodia descended into poverty in 1975 when the oppressive communist Khmer Rouge seized power after the country had suffered from years of warfare.
The brutal regime immediately abolished the monetary system and put people to work in the fields. Over the next three years around 1.7 million people are estimated to have died from exhaustion, starvation, torture or execution.
A total of 150 films are being screened at the third annual Rome Film Festival which ends on 31 October.
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