May 5, 2006
 Killing Machine, Money Machine
Here is a 4 minute interview with Rithy Panh, Khmer-French director of numerous films including "S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine". He has probably logged more filming time at S-21 prison than any other cinema creator.
He comments on the recent Thai film 'Ghost Game', saying the picture "exploits terror to make money of it."
The Thai filmmakers are apologizing in public -- all the way to the bank. If Vann Nath needs more treatment in Bangkok, perhaps he'll see posters for this film on the way to the hospital.
Yet I don't think this should be viewed as a Thai-Cambodian issue. It's really about ignorance, which no culture has a monopoly on. Blame should be assigned to individual actions.
It was young Cambodians who opened up "L'Histoire", the Khmer Rouge Cafe. Many Phnom Penhois of college age have never been to Tuol Sleng.
There have been excellent gestures and terrible mistakes from many nationalities regarding the Khmer Rouge time. I find many foreigners (particularly Americans and French) want to explore this grim area of history, under the mistaken impression that they have some advanced theraputic value to share with traumatized survivors... decades after the fact.
The majority of survivors simply want to move ahead with their lives, and have a far better grip on recent history than most foreigners.
If the filmmakers really want to apologize they could donate some money to the Documentation Center of Cambodia and the Tuol Sleng Museum, which could do with an overhaul.
More coverage at Global Voices.
And while we're on the topic of film: a different approach to S-21 imagery is used in 'Back Home', a performance art piece by Anida Yoeu Esguerra, with 'The Mekong Project' and performers from Phare/Sovanna Phum.
http://www.atomicshogun.com./performance.htm
Tags: Cambodia,cinema
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