Rice People
This recurring cycle is an opportunity to watch or re-watch classics from cinema history, or films representative of certain national cinematographies, trends or eras, on the big screen.
Rice cultivation shapes the life, joys, beliefs, and survival of Vong Poeuv, his wife, and his seven daughters. What was once a cycle of life has turned into a cycle of tragedy.
Rithy Panh
Rithy Panh is a French-Cambodian filmmaker, screenwriter, and author. He has dedicated most of his career to exploring the trauma and grief caused by the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979. The pain of the survivors of Pol Pot's regime deeply permeates his work. He is committed to a work of remembrance, aiming to reconnect with Cambodian culture through cinema. His film Rice People (1994) was the first Cambodian feature to be presented in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Nearly two decades later, he won the Prix Un Certain Regard at the same festival for The Missing Picture (2013). His most recent film, Meeting with Pol Pot (2024), also screened at Cannes, revisits the dark years of the Khmer Rouge regime and its leader through a blend of fiction, archival footage, and animation.
