Bophana
( Une tragédie cambodgienne )

Rithy Panh
1996 - 60 min - Vidéo - Couleur - France

Through the tragic destiny of Hout Bophana, a young woman, and her husband Ly Sitha, this film looks back at a grim of Cambodia's recent history. Disgusted by the corruption of the Lon Nol regime, Ly Sitha joined the communist resistance. After their separation the two young people wrote to each other, and were reunited after the taking of Phnom-Penh. The victory of the Khmers Rouges was for them to be the start of a nightmare.
Arrested, tortured, and forced to make improbable confessions, they were both executed in 1976. Rare documents - the transcripts of the interrogations, and the couple's repeatedly rewritten confessions - throw an unusually clear light on the young couple's story. The letters exchanged over the years also bear witness to the conditions in which they were living at the time.
The prison of Tuol Sleng where they were held has since become a museum, but today there is talk of turning the page by converting it into a school...