Cambodian Classic

via CAAI

Published: 12/01/2011

Rithy Pahn is the best internationally known Cambodian film-maker, one who has been recounting the tale of tragedy and hope of his country for nearly two decades. Most chilling is his documentary S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003), an investigation into one of the most horrible crimes ever committed against humanity.

Pahn fled the Khmer Rough and has been living mostly in France, yet his films about Cambodia have the distinctive flavour of an insider. Today, the Alliance Francaise will screen Pahn's 1994 film Les gens de la riziere (The Rice People), at 7:30pm. The film, which employs a stark documentary style, tells the story of a rice-farming family that struggles to continue its livelihood after surviving the horror of the Khmer Rouge years.

TODAY: 7:30PM THE RICE PEOPLE

At the Alliance Francaise, Sathon Road

The film was in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994 (so Cambodia beat Thailand in that regard; we first had a film in the Cannes competition, considered the most elite, in 2004). It also represented Cambodia in the Oscar nominations for best foreign language film.