Norodom Sihanouk, King and Film-maker

Raise the Bamboo Curtain: Vietnam, Cambodia, and Burma

April 1996 •English

This is the original version of the much heralded "Raising The Bamboo Curtain" narrated and produced by legendary travel filmmaker Rick Ray. (Rick later sold partial rights to this program to another producer who hired Martin Sheen to narrate - that cut down and rewritten version is not the same). Sneaking his cameras past Burmese and Cambodian customs officials and getting around the country to produce one of the best travel docs ever made, Rick has outdone himself - again!

À la Poursuite des Pilleurs de Temples

September 2014 •French

In 1972, during Cambodia's civil war, a sandstone statue was torn from the age-old Koh Ker temple. Measuring 1.58m high and weighing 110 kilos, it depicts a prince and belongs to a collection that retraces the epic of the Mahabharata. The sculpture was first sold at auction in London in 1975, via a strange British art dealer based in Bangkok, and reappeared in 2011 at Sotheby's in New York with a bid of $2.5 million. A sale that was ultimately prohibited. In the meantime, experts from the École française d'Extrême-Orient, an American lawyer commissioned by Phnom Penh and UNESCO mobilized the Heritage Police across the Atlantic to denounce the theft of a cultural asset. In 2013, the work was returned to Cambodia. A captivating investigation into the international mafia of antiquities trafficking.

Journey Into Buddhism: Prajna Earth

September 2007 •English

Prajna is the Sanskrit word for radiant wisdom, and yatra is the word for pilgrimage or spiritual journey. This visually stunning documentary is a cinematic pilgrimage exploring the lost civilization of Angkor in Cambodia, including the largest temple in the world, the magnificent Angkor Wat. The journey continues to sacred sites of the natural world, Hindu Bali, jungles of Java, and discovering Buddhist Borobudur. A John Bush film.

S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine

May 2003 •French

Documentary of the S-21 genocide prison in Phnom Penh with interviews of prisoners and guards. On the search for reasons why this could have happened.

Defending Brother No.2

September 2017 •Dutch

Two Dutch lawyers, Michiel Pestman and Victor Koppe, travel to Cambodia in 2011 to defend Nuon Chea in an international tribunal. Nuon Chea, also known as Brother No. 2, was the second man after Pol Pot in the Khmer Rouge regime. He is being charged with mass murder and crimes against humanity. For four years, the documentary follows the lawyers in their attempt to give this man a fair trial, but the UN tribunal is beset by local interests and a government which consists partly of other former members of the Khmer Rouge who would really like all of the blame to rest solely on the defendant. What should've been the crowning achievement in the careers of the lawyers turns out very different.

Side by Side

August 2021 •Khmer

Through daily routines in a rural village, an indigenous elder couple recall their strange marriage to their grand-daughter, and sometimes to each other, in the changing rhythm of nature around them.

The Bamboo Bridge

October 2019 •Khmer

This documentary looks at the stories that take place around a unique 1.5 kilometre long bamboo bridge that for generations has been built every year following the rhythms of nature across the Mekong River to join the rural community of Koh Paen to the city of Kampong Cham in Cambodia.

High Point Summer

February 2018 •English

It's Seattle 2006: A refugee teenager from Cambodia begins recording a video diary early in the summer to explain the meaning of "thug life." But ultimately his summer is defined by tragedy. Awarded Best Documentary at the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival 2019

The Donut King

August 2020 •English

Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy builds a multi-million dollar empire by baking America's favourite pastry: the doughnut.

Angkor et Les Mystères de L'Empire Khmer

November 2022 •French

The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor

April 2015 •English

When Dr. Haing S. Ngor was forced into labor camps by the Khmer Rouge, little did he know he would escape years of torture and recreate his experiences in a film that would win him an Academy Award®. "The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor" tells the dramatic story about arguably the most recognizable survivor of the Cambodian genocide, a man who became a worldwide ambassador for justice in his homeland, only to be murdered in a Los Angeles Chinatown alley - a case still muddled with conspiracy theories. Through an inspired blend of original animation and rare archival material - anchored by Ngor's richly layered autobiography - the years encapsulating the Khmer Rouge's tyrannical rule over Cambodia are experienced though a politically charged transnational journey of loss and reconciliation.

Wonders of the Monsoon

October 2014 •English

The wildlife and cultures of southern Asia have been shaped by one of the greatest phenomena on Earth: the mighty monsoon winds that sweep across this vast region, turning drought into deluge. All life – human and animal – is dominated by this rampaging weather system. From the northern shores of Australia to the highest peaks of the Himalayas and the wind-blown deserts of northern India to the lush equatorial forests of Borneo, this series makes an exhilarating journey through the lands of the monsoon. Along the way, it offers a taste of the variety and colour of the different regions’ most extraordinary wildlife and cultures and the way they cope with the tumultuous weather. This is the story of a relationship between humans and nature that has grown across thousands of years – all living in the shadow of the monsoon.

okay bye-bye

January 1998 •English

In okay bye-bye, so named for what Cambodian children shouted to the U.S. ambassador in 1975 as he took the last helicopter out of Phnom Phenh in advance of the Khmer Rouge, Rebecca Baron explores the relationship of history to memory. She questions whether, "image and memory can occupy the same space." Building on excerpts from letters, found super-8 footage of an unidentified Cambodian man, iconographic photographs from the Vietnam War and other partial images, Baron combines epistolary narrative, memoir, journalism, and official histories to question whether something as monumental as the genocidal slaughter of Cambodians during the Pol Pot regime can be examined effectively with traditional methodologies.

Golden Slumbers

October 2011 •French

Over three million Cambodians died in the genocide between 1975 and 1979. The Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror also decimated a homegrown film industry that had flourished since 1960: movie theaters were bombed, film prints were destroyed and artists were executed. In Golden Slumbers, French-Cambodian filmmaker Davy Chou mourns this loss of lives and culture, but balances the somber material with a playfulness that honors the lush melodramas and mythic adventures of the glory years.

Angkor Rediscovered

January 2013 •French

The Khmer Empire - officially 'The Angkor Empire' was a powerful 13th century Hindu-Buddhist state in Southeast Asia. Using sophisticated technologies to see inside Khmer temples, combined with statues, casts, and documents discovered by 19th century explorers, scientists today discover how they operated, the meaning of their architecture, and how the capital become the largest city in the world.

Redlight

October 2009 •English

A powerful feature documentary about child sexploitation, an epidemic happening in every country around the world. Filmed over a four year period, REDLIGHT focuses on the personal stories of young Cambodian victims and two remarkable advocates for change: grass-roots activist Somaly Mam and politician Mu Sochua. Using gritty footage smuggled out of brothels and harrowing testimonials, REDLIGHT follows the plight of several current and former child sex slaves. Some are trying to regain entry into Cambodian society to find some semblance of normality after their horrific experiences. Other stories highlight the plight of victims who are attempting to bring the perpetrators to justice. Their torturous yet ultimately heroic battles to find witnesses and take brothel owners to court are dramatically brought to life in this topical and moving feature documentary.

Il a besoin

January 1981 •French

Exile

May 2016 •French

Exil is a visionary narration of the exile of Cambodians during the Red Khmer regime, during which the country was renamed Democratic Kampuchea.

John Baumhackl: Chemical Memories

January 2014 •English

John Baumhackl recalls the early days of the Vietnam War when more and more troops were being sent into combat every month. In 1968, John's number came up and he was drafted into the conflict. Buying a camera at his company store before shipping off, he captured many battles while in a helicopter. John was near the front lines when President Nixon made the controversial decision to push into Cambodia. In John's view, this saved American lives.

Narratives of Modern Genocide

January 2021 •English

Narratives of Modern Genocide challenges the audience to experience first-person accounts of survivors of genocide. Sichan Siv and Gilbert Tuhabonye share how they escaped the killing fields of Cambodia, and the massacre of school children in Burundi. Mixing haunting animation, and expert context the film confronts our notion that the holocaust was the last genocide.