Rithy Panh
Encyclopedia
Rithy Panh (born April 18, 1964 in Phnom Penh
) is an internationally and critically acclaimed Cambodian
documentary
film director
and screenwriter
.
The French-schooled director's films focus on the aftermath of the genocidal Khmer Rouge
regime in Cambodia. Rithy Panh's works are from an authoritative viewpoint, because his family were expelled from Phnom Penh in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge. One after another, his father, mother, sisters and nephews died of starvation or exhaustion, as they were held in a remote labor camp in rural Cambodia.
. His father was a school teacher and inspector of primary schools.
His family and other residents were expelled from the Cambodia
n capital in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge
. Rithy's family suffered under the regime, and after he saw his parents, siblings and other relatives die of overwork or malnutrition, Rithy escaped to Thailand
in 1979, where he lived for a time in a refugee camp
at Mairut.
Eventually, he made his way to Paris
, France
. It was while he was attending vocational school to learn carpentry that he was handed a video camera during a party that he become interested in filmmaking. He went on to graduate from the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques
(Institute for the Advanced Cinematographic Studies). He returned to Cambodia in 1990, while still using Paris as a home base.
His 1994 film, Rice People
, is told in a docudrama style, about a rural family struggling with life in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia. It was in competition at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival
, and was submitted to the 67th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
, the first time a Cambodian film had been submitted for an Oscar.
The 2000 documentary, The Land of the Wandering Souls
, also told of a family's struggle, as well as showing a Cambodia entering the modern age, chronicling the hardships of workers digging a cross-country trench for Cambodia's first optical fiber cable
.
His 2003 documentary, S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
, about the Khmer Rouge's Tuol Sleng
prison, reunited former prisoners, including the artist Vann Nath
, and their former captors, for a chilling, confrontational review of Cambodia's violent history.
More post-Khmer Rouge events are documented in the 2005 drama, The Burnt Theatre
, which focuses on a theater troupe that inhabits the burned-out remains of Phnom Pehn's Suramet Theatre, which caught fire in 1994 but has never been rebuilt.
His 2007 documentary, Le papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise
, delves into the lives of prostitutes
in Phnom Penh.
, has developed Bophana: Audio Visual Resource Center – Cambodia, with an aim towards preserving the country's film, photographic and audio history. The center's namesake is the subject of one of his early docudramas, Bophana: A Cambodian Tragedy
, about a young woman who was tortured and killed at S-21 prison
.
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
) is an internationally and critically acclaimed Cambodian
Khmer people
Khmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
The French-schooled director's films focus on the aftermath of the genocidal Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
regime in Cambodia. Rithy Panh's works are from an authoritative viewpoint, because his family were expelled from Phnom Penh in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge. One after another, his father, mother, sisters and nephews died of starvation or exhaustion, as they were held in a remote labor camp in rural Cambodia.
Early life, escape from Cambodia
Rithy Panh was born in Phnom PenhPhnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
. His father was a school teacher and inspector of primary schools.
His family and other residents were expelled from the Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
n capital in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
. Rithy's family suffered under the regime, and after he saw his parents, siblings and other relatives die of overwork or malnutrition, Rithy escaped to Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
in 1979, where he lived for a time in a refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
at Mairut.
Eventually, he made his way to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It was while he was attending vocational school to learn carpentry that he was handed a video camera during a party that he become interested in filmmaking. He went on to graduate from the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques
Institut des hautes études cinématographiques
L'Institut des hautes études cinématographiques is a French film school, founded during World War II under the leadership of Marcel L'Herbier who was its president from 1944 to 1969. IDHEC offered training for directors and producers, cameramen, sound technicians, editors, art directors and...
(Institute for the Advanced Cinematographic Studies). He returned to Cambodia in 1990, while still using Paris as a home base.
Career as director
His first documentary feature film, Site 2, about a family of Cambodian refugees in a camp on the Thai-Cambodian border in the 1980s, was awarded "Grand Prix du Documentaire" at the Festival of Amiens.His 1994 film, Rice People
Rice People
Rice People is a 1994 Cambodian drama film directed and co-written by Rithy Panh. Adapted from the 1966 novel Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan , by Malaysian author Shahnon Ahmad, which is set in the Malaysian state of Kedah, Rice People is the story of a rural family in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia,...
, is told in a docudrama style, about a rural family struggling with life in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia. It was in competition at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival
1994 Cannes Film Festival
The 1994 Cannes Film Festival started on 12 May and ran until 23 May. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino.-Official Selection:*Clint Eastwood *Catherine Deneuve...
, and was submitted to the 67th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
, the first time a Cambodian film had been submitted for an Oscar.
The 2000 documentary, The Land of the Wandering Souls
The Land of the Wandering Souls
The Land of the Wandering Souls, or La terre des âmes errantes, is a 2000 French-Cambodian documentary film directed by Rithy Panh.-Synopsis:...
, also told of a family's struggle, as well as showing a Cambodia entering the modern age, chronicling the hardships of workers digging a cross-country trench for Cambodia's first optical fiber cable
Optical fiber cable
An optical fiber cable is a cable containing one or more optical fibers. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with plastic layers and contained in a protective tube suitable for the environment where the cable will be deployed....
.
His 2003 documentary, S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine is a 2003 documentary film directed by Rithy Panh. Rithy, himself a survivor of the Khmer Rouge, brought together two former prisoners of the regime with their former captors at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the former Security Prison 21 under the Khmer Rouge.-...
, about the Khmer Rouge's Tuol Sleng
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a museum in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The site is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 by the Khmer Rouge communist regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979...
prison, reunited former prisoners, including the artist Vann Nath
Vann Nath
Vann Nath was a Cambodian painter, artist, writer and human rights activist who was one of a diverse group of writers from 22 countries to receive the prestigious Lillian Hellman/Hammett Award which recognizes courage in the face of political persecution which he faced during the Khmer Rouge...
, and their former captors, for a chilling, confrontational review of Cambodia's violent history.
More post-Khmer Rouge events are documented in the 2005 drama, The Burnt Theatre
The Burnt Theatre
The Burnt Theatre, or Les Artistes du Théâtre Brûlé, is a 2005 French-Cambodian docudrama directed and co-written by Rithy Panh. A blend of fact and fiction, based on the actual lives of the actors, the film depicts a troupe of actors and dancers struggling to practise their art in the burned-out...
, which focuses on a theater troupe that inhabits the burned-out remains of Phnom Pehn's Suramet Theatre, which caught fire in 1994 but has never been rebuilt.
His 2007 documentary, Le papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise
Le papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise
Le papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise is a 2007 French-Cambodian documentary film directed by Rithy Panh.In this film, the director examines prostitution in Cambodia.-Release:...
, delves into the lives of prostitutes
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
in Phnom Penh.
Bophana, the Audiovisual Resource Center - Cambodia
Rithy, along with director Ieu PannakarIeu Pannakar
Ieu Pannakar is a Cambodian film director and senator. Among the first Cambodians to study film making, he is one of Cambodia's pioneering film directors. He is a co-founder of Bophana: The Audio-Visual Resource Center - Cambodia...
, has developed Bophana: Audio Visual Resource Center – Cambodia, with an aim towards preserving the country's film, photographic and audio history. The center's namesake is the subject of one of his early docudramas, Bophana: A Cambodian Tragedy
Bophana: A Cambodian Tragedy
Bophana: A Cambodian Tragedy, or Bophana, une tragédie cambodgienne, is a 1996 French-Cambodian made-for-television docudrama directed by Rithy Panh.-Synopsis:...
, about a young woman who was tortured and killed at S-21 prison
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a museum in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The site is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 by the Khmer Rouge communist regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979...
.
Filmography
- Site 2 (19891989 in film-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...
) - Cinéma de notre temps: Souleymane Cissé (French television) (1990)
- Cambodia: Between War and PeaceCambodia: Between War and PeaceCambodge, entre guerre et paix is a 1991 French-Cambodian documentary film directed by Rithy Panh. The film, shot at the end of 1991 at the time of Norodom Sihanouk’s return to Cambodia, questions the Cambodian people and explores the horrors and effects of the Khmer Rouge on them and what future...
(19911991 in filmThe year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November...
) - Rice PeopleRice PeopleRice People is a 1994 Cambodian drama film directed and co-written by Rithy Panh. Adapted from the 1966 novel Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan , by Malaysian author Shahnon Ahmad, which is set in the Malaysian state of Kedah, Rice People is the story of a rural family in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia,...
(Neak Sre) (19941994 in film1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...
) - Bophana: A Cambodian TragedyBophana: A Cambodian TragedyBophana: A Cambodian Tragedy, or Bophana, une tragédie cambodgienne, is a 1996 French-Cambodian made-for-television docudrama directed by Rithy Panh.-Synopsis:...
(19961996 in filmMajor releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
) - One Evening After the WarOne Evening After the WarOne Evening After the War is a 1998 Cambodian drama film, directed and co-written by Rithy Panh...
(19981998 in film-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
) - The Land of the Wandering SoulsThe Land of the Wandering SoulsThe Land of the Wandering Souls, or La terre des âmes errantes, is a 2000 French-Cambodian documentary film directed by Rithy Panh.-Synopsis:...
(20002000 in filmThe year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....
) - Que la barque se brise, que la jonque s'entrouvreQue la barque se brise, que la jonque s'entrouvreQue la barque se brise, que la jonque s'entrouvre is a 2001 French-Cambodian made-for-television romantic-drama film directed by Rithy Panh.-Synopsis:...
("Let the boat break its back, Let the junk break open") (French television) (2001) - S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing MachineS-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing MachineS-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine is a 2003 documentary film directed by Rithy Panh. Rithy, himself a survivor of the Khmer Rouge, brought together two former prisoners of the regime with their former captors at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the former Security Prison 21 under the Khmer Rouge.-...
(20032003 in filmThe year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
) - The People of AngkorThe People of AngkorThe People of Angkor, or Les Gens d'Angkor, is a 2003 French-Cambodian documentary film directed by Rithy Panh. It was exhibited at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in 2005....
(20032003 in filmThe year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
) - The Burnt TheatreThe Burnt TheatreThe Burnt Theatre, or Les Artistes du Théâtre Brûlé, is a 2005 French-Cambodian docudrama directed and co-written by Rithy Panh. A blend of fact and fiction, based on the actual lives of the actors, the film depicts a troupe of actors and dancers struggling to practise their art in the burned-out...
(20052005 in film- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
) - Le papier ne peut pas envelopper la braiseLe papier ne peut pas envelopper la braiseLe papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise is a 2007 French-Cambodian documentary film directed by Rithy Panh.In this film, the director examines prostitution in Cambodia.-Release:...
(20072007 in filmThis is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
) (Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers) - Un barrage contre le Pacifique (20082008 in filmThis is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
)
External links
- Bophana: Audio Visual Resource Center – Cambodia
- Rithy Panh Film Festival
- Artist profile at Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...