S21 - LA MACHINE DE MORT KHMÈRE ROUGE

From 1975 to 1979, Cambodia was ravaged by the Khmer Rouge rebel forces. Under the regime of Pol Pot some two million Cambodians were brutally murdered. The most horrific crimes were committed in the Phnom Penh penal colony S21. Almost 20.000 people were brought here to be killed, only seven of them survived.

25 years later, director Rithy Panh returns to the former camp taking along a group of prison guards and two survivors. Panh confronts them with one another and their past. The result is a cautious attempt to come to grips with Cambodia’s troubled collective memory.

The filmmaker, with his calmly registering camera, lets those involved tell their stories. The victims remain completely bewildered. They hope for explanations and apologies. But their tormentors feel neither guilt nor remorse. They resort to every henchman’s favourite excuse: They had only been carrying out orders to destroy "the enemies of the revolution". While doing so, they had no other choice but to turn off their conscience. The leaders were always right.

In the now-empty cells the ex-guards demonstrate methodically how they treated their prisoners. Their performance does not lack enthusiasm; and once again it becomes clear just how thin the dividing line between civilisation and barbarism really is.

European Movie Award, Prix ARTE, 2003