Die Angkar
My inability to post photos on my blog is getting very annoying. I can't fix the problem and I have literally hundreds to catch up with from Oudong, Battambang, Kompong Khleang, and lots more. Grrrrrr!
Tonight I went to the Meta House for their German film night, attended by no less a mortal than the German Ambassador and his wife, in their civvies. The film was the second of the ground-breaking documentaries by East German filmmakers Walter Heynowski and Gerhard Scheumann, who were one of the first reporting crews to get access to Cambodia after the expulsion of the Khmer Rouge from power in the spring of 1979. Die Angkar focused on the Khmer Rouge and their communist roots and included never-before-seen early footage from Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek, including interviews with survivors like Vann Nath and Ung Pech. Fascinating stuff, though it was in German so I didn't understand a word! They showed literally hundreds of mug-shots from the Tuol Sleng archives to press home their point during the 90-minute film. They also included an interview with Ieng Sary - who alongwith Pol Pot was tried in absentia as the two main architects of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime - to complement the interview with his wife Ieng Thirith in their other unique film, Kampuchea : Death and Rebirth, which screened at Meta House a few weeks ago. Both films are a unique look into Cambodia in those early months after the KR were kicked out of Phnom Penh. Whilst their focus is skewed, the footage alone makes them compelling watching.
A very well-fed Ieng Sary, interviewed by the documentary team
A bit later I finally encountered the only expat football team in Phnom Penh of any note. Members of the Bayon Wanderers team were having a beer and talking football in my local, the Red Orchid when I walked in. I've been trying to get in touch with them since I arrived in Phnom Penh but without success, until now. I'm seriously thinking of getting fit again and a kickabout with these guys would do the trick. They tell me they're in a local league and play games against Khmer opposition every weekend. Having not kicked a ball in anger for about five years, I am embarrassingly out of shape, but maybe this is exactly what I need to rekindle my fitness and my thirst for live football.
Tonight I went to the Meta House for their German film night, attended by no less a mortal than the German Ambassador and his wife, in their civvies. The film was the second of the ground-breaking documentaries by East German filmmakers Walter Heynowski and Gerhard Scheumann, who were one of the first reporting crews to get access to Cambodia after the expulsion of the Khmer Rouge from power in the spring of 1979. Die Angkar focused on the Khmer Rouge and their communist roots and included never-before-seen early footage from Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek, including interviews with survivors like Vann Nath and Ung Pech. Fascinating stuff, though it was in German so I didn't understand a word! They showed literally hundreds of mug-shots from the Tuol Sleng archives to press home their point during the 90-minute film. They also included an interview with Ieng Sary - who alongwith Pol Pot was tried in absentia as the two main architects of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime - to complement the interview with his wife Ieng Thirith in their other unique film, Kampuchea : Death and Rebirth, which screened at Meta House a few weeks ago. Both films are a unique look into Cambodia in those early months after the KR were kicked out of Phnom Penh. Whilst their focus is skewed, the footage alone makes them compelling watching.
A very well-fed Ieng Sary, interviewed by the documentary team
posted by Andy Brouwer at
11:03 PM
1 Comments:
To find out more about The Bayon Wandereres FC, go to their website at:
www.bayonwanderers.com
They have a tournament coming up in a few weeks, here in Cambodia.
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