36/38
Three French journalists travel to Cambodia in 1978 after receiving an invitation from the Khmer Rouge regime and embark on a dangerous adventure. Cambodia’s official entry for the “Best International Feature Film” award; category of the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. Edited from S21: The Killing Machine of the Khmer Rouge (2003). Le Temps des cerisesLyrics by Jean Baptiste Clément & Music by Antoine Renard performed by Tino Rossi. The director gradually reveals with subtlety and poetry the ideological mechanisms that led the nation to genocide. The use of archival materials and wooden figurines, combined with the creativity of the actors in the spectacles, introduces modesty and restraint to the subject of great violence. At the beginning of the film, the characters feel uncomfortable and try to calm down, but as reality unfolds, the tension constantly increases. The three characters evolve in different ways and react differently to what they witness. In a time when social media is flooded with superficial and sensational depictions of genocide, it is refreshing to see a film that presents it in a sober and realistic way.