Festival de la Francophonie • Film Screening: Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot (Meeting with Pol Pot)

Cambodia: Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot (Meeting With Pol Pot) by Rithy Panh

This is the Cambodian-French director’s fourth submission to the Oscars including a nomination in 2013 for The Missing Picture. The film is inspired by journalist Elizabeth Becker’s book When The War Was Over and follows three French people: two journalists and an academic, travel to Democratic Kampuchea in 1978, in the midst of Pol Pot’s dictatorship after accepting an invitation from the regime, embarking on a dangerous journey to the heart of the brutal government.

The film first showed in May 2024 at Cannes in Premiere and also screened in competition at Mediterrane festival. The cast includes Grégoire Colin, Irene Jacob and Cyril Gueï, while production companies are CDP and Anupheap Production. Cambodia made the shortlist last year with Davy Chou’s Return To Seoul. It had its world premiere on May 16, 2024, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, then was released on June 5, 2024, in French theaters and on August 9, 2024, in Cambodian theaters.

Synopsis

Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) - 1978. Three French journalists are invited by the Khmer Rouge to conduct an exclusive interview of the regime’s leader, Pol Pot. The country seems ideal. But behind the Potemkin village, the Khmer Rouge regime is declining and the war with Vietnam threatens to invade the country. The regime is looking for culprits, secretly carrying out a large scale genocide. Under the eyes of the journalists, the beautiful picture cracks, revealing the horror. Their journey progressively turns into a nightmare. Freely inspired by journalist Elizabeth Becker’s account in When The War Was Over.

About Rithy Panh

Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Rithy Panh was born in Cambodia and arrived in Paris after the Khmer Rouge fall in 1979. He has dedicated much of his career to investigating the campaign of genocide and memorializing its victims. His first documentary Site 2 won several international awards in 1989. His first feature film The Rice People was presented in Competition at the Festival de Cannes in 1994. He came back Out of Competition with S21 The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine presented in 2003, and The Burnt Theatre in 2005. Other film credit include The Sea Wall (2008).

He also directed The Missing Picture which won the Un Certain Regard Prize in 2013 and was the first Cambodian film nominated for an Academy Award as ‘Best Foreign Language Film. His last films Exile (2016) and Graves Without a Name (2018) explored again the lasting effects of the Cambodian genocide.

Get here

The Alliance Francaise de Chicago is one block from the CTA Red line stop at Chicago Avenue. Best bus routes are the 22 on Clark and the 66 on Chicago Avenue.

Parking Information

The easiest: $12 for 12 hours at InterPark at 100 W Chestnut St. All you need is the rebate chaser" card we give participants.