Rob Lemkin receives his award at the Sundance Festival
via CAAI News Media
Thursday 11th February 2010
By Matt Wilkinson »
IT was one of the most gruesome episodes in modern history, and one Oxford filmmaker appears to have captured the real story.
Director Rob Lemkin’s film Enemies of The People provides first-hand accounts of the genocide by Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, under the rule of Pol Pot, which killed an estimated two million people.
Last week, the documentary, co-directed with Cambodian journalist Thet Sambath, picked up the World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Documentary at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in America.
His documentary also got the thumbs-up from film festival founder and Hollywood star Robert Redford.
Father-of-four Mr Lemkin’s film company Old Street Films has been based in Hurst Street, East Oxford, for the past 20 years.
Mr Lemkin, 48, said: “This award is a great honour and we hope it helps us to reach the widest audience possible with our story.
“For the first time we have a network of people involved at all levels in the killing who are now telling the truth.
“In 30 years, no-one involved has mentioned a thing. Now in this film, people involved have spoken about the killings in detail.
“Some of them are still traumatised.”
Mr Lemkin spent three years making his documentary after meeting investigative journalist Thet Sambath while on holiday in Cambodia.
They managed to trace many people behind the atrocities and persuaded them to speak on camera.
The pair struck up a relationship with former ideological leader Nuon Chea, 83, known as Brother Number Two and second in command to Pol Pot, who makes a string of confessions in the documentary.
Chea has since been arrested by the United Nations accused of genocide and is due to stand trial this year.
The film was endorsed by Robert Redford at his festival in Utah.
Mr Lemkin added: “Robert Redford gave his full support and said he knew about the story of Cambodia from the Hollywood movie The Killing Fields in the 1980s, but didn’t know the real story.
“This documentary was the first time it has been told.”
Enemies of The People was funded by Screen South and received post-production grants from the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund and the Sundance Documentary Program.
Jack Gold, of Screen South, said: “Rob and his team deservedly win this fantastic prize.
“It is a credit to their patience, perseverance, integrity and film-making skills.”
The film received its world premiere in Amsterdam in November last year where it was nominated for Best Documentary and was voted among the top 10 in the Audience Awards.
Mr Lemkin has also directed documentaries for BBC, Sky, Channel 4 and the History Channel.
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