A community participative documentary not to forget the Pol Pot era

Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 07/05/2009: Nou Va, co-director of the movie “We want (u) to know” ©John Vink/ Magnum

Ka-set
http://cambodia.ka-set.info

By Stéphanie Gée
08-05-2009

“We want (u) to know” is yet another documentary that gives a voice to survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime, but its instigators wanted it to be different from anything already produced on the subject. Their approach is not meant to be historical, legal (for instance, how to file a complaint with the court), or even educational, but “participative”, the Italian film-maker Ella Pugliese explains. From the script to the shooting, including the acting and the sound recording, an important part of the steps of making the movie were entrusted to villagers, who received technical guidance from the Italian and psychological support from German Judith Strasser, adviser on this project for the German Development Service (DED).

“We want (u) to know”
The film's title has a double meaning: we want you – and the young generation in the first place – to know what happened, but we also want to know what happened. This double intention is illustrated by a discussion between a blind grandmother, who lost all her relatives under the Khmer Rouge, and an innocent 12-year-old boy. Holding a microphone in his hand, the child, barely a teenager, freely asks questions to the elderly woman, on a chattering tone and under the eye of the camera.

“Say, grandma, I was wondering what the 'Pol Pots' looked like?” “They looked like any of us, but they behaved differently.” “And where are they today?” “They left, I don't know where to. After the fall of the regime, the leaders left and left their subalterns behind them. They were villagers like us, but they became 'Pol Pots'.” “Grandma, I was wondering why they killed Khmer people?” “I don't know... Grandma doesn't know why they did that. They followed their rule. And their rule was to kill...”

The movie features testimonies, reconstruction of scenes taken from the lives of the villagers of Thnol Lok, Kirirom district, Takeo province, through actions, but also drawings sketched on the very floor of their pagoda which walls still bear the blood-red stigma of the genocidal regime, or preparation scenes showing one of the local chiefs adjusting the red and white chequered scarf of a young man in black pyjamas, portraying a soldier of the Angkar, while grumbling “You don't know how to tie your krama around your neck!”, or a survivor pointing at a former mass grave... The improvised team is made of people of all ages, as is the crowd that came every night to watch the day's footage, their faces suddenly grave before the snippets of a suddenly reappeared past. The exploration of memory and present concludes with the images of the opening, on March 30th 2009, of the trial of Duch, the former director of S-21, at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (EEEC).

A community participative approach
The idea for this project was born a year ago during a working group on mental health disorders suffered by survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime. Funds were provided by German agency DED, production was taken care of by the Khmer Institute for Democracy (KID) and the International Centre for Conciliation, and networks established by legal aid NGOs working with Khmer Rouge victims were mobilized.

Between visits to places of memory, known or unsuspected, in Phnom Penh and in the provinces of Siem Reap, Takeo and Kratie, the challenge was to rally villagers around this adventure. “We were curious to see how this approach would be received: coming to villages with cameras, authoring tools, and asking residents if they wanted to use them to talk about the past,” remembers Ella Pugliese, still surprised to observe how much history is still present in their lives. Judith Strasser concedes that the concept was first foreign to them. “What to do with memory?” After long discussions, villagers accepted rather spontaneously to re-establish ties with the painful period, and following a pot luck principle, each came with his or her story and ideas for the shooting. “Some villagers suggested to re-enact scenes of killings. At first, we were sceptical about it. Then, they started acting these scenes, with a lot of authenticity. It was troubling. We followed them but chose, after long debates, not to show executions and only suggest them,” the Italian reports.

A quest for truth with safeguards
The inter-generational dimension was very important for Ella and Judith, who heard the villagers' desire to see the story anchored in collective memory so that it does not vanish and be relegated to a popular legend. “Cambodians are really looking for justice and put great trust in the [Khmer Rouge] tribunal. And if some of them are burdened with hatred for their former torturers, they have no desire for vengeance,” Judith could observe on the field.

Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 06/05/2009: Judith Strasser, psychologist working with TPO, Ella Pugliese, co-director, and Shanti Sattler, all three creators and producers of the movie “We want (u) to know”©John Vink/Magnum

The imperative during the shooting, which unfolded over several months, was not to come and disturb, or break, the balance in the villages by trying to stir the past too much, or alternatively, to ensure that it is restored before putting the cameras away. That is why the team took a lot of precautions, bringing with them psychologists from the NGO TPO. “They explained to the villagers the symptoms that may manifest themselves, the reactions that may occur. TPO's hotline was also communicated to them so that they can continue consulting with them if needed.”

A step towards healing

It makes Judith, specialist of clinical psychology, cringe when she hears an enduring cliché claiming that reliving a trauma revives it. According to her, it is important to unearth one's pain, “to get it out of the private sphere of the house”. “If you know how to strike a balance between relief and burden, chances are the former will prevail. Facing the trauma is a way to face one's past and find the path to healing. One of the protagonists told us at the end of the shooting that she was breathing again, she was able to forget and felt happy again, because her mind was no longer as haunted by these horrible stories. And you hear her explain that in the movie. Retreating into silence and repressing painful memories is one of the main symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. What people need is precisely help to confront their past and find relief.”

“Filming, drawing and so on in a group setting, this offers a safe environment as well as distance, which are conducive to help people speak freely and share their stories,” the Italian film-maker insists , echoing her colleague. In some way, a kind of collective therapy, or at least its beginning, specify the two young women, who would like to go further still with the adventure.

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Schedule of showings in Cambodia
“We want (u) to know” (90mns) will be shown Friday May 8th at the Bophana Centre (No 64, Street 200) at 7pm, Saturday May 9th at the Living Room Café (No 9, Street 306) at 7pm, and Saturday May 10th at Meta House (No 6, Street 264) at 7pm. The authors of the documentary dream of seeing the documentary continue its life by hitting the roads of the Kingdom, through a travelling cinema, and facilitate dialogue wherever it goes... Moreover, the movie will be used and broadcast by organisations like TPO, an NGO providing psychological support.