Cambodia: a unique, exclusive collection on a period in Cambodian history that cannot be ignored
Ina has restored and digitised 210 reels of film at the request of the Archives of the Kingdom of Cambodia's Culture and Fine Arts Ministry.
The reels represent some 40 hours of film, which are unique. They feature the images of a period in Cambodia's history, from 1975 to 1979, that was marked by Khmer Rouge propaganda.
Since 2005, the management of this collection has led to an extended partnership with the Khmer Rouge audiovisual resources centre in Phnom Penh, officially opened in December 2006. Its founders are Leu Pannakar, a film director formerly at the head of the Ministry's Film Department in Cambodia and the famous film director, Rithy Panh, who survived the Khmer Rouge work camps.
“You can never entirely ‘destroy’ a human being. There's always a trace, even years later. Rebellion, resistance, never accepting humiliation can sometimes take the form of a defiant look, a chin lifted slightly, a refusal to capitulate during a beating…”
Rithy Panh, in an interview in November 2005