Viewpoint '89: Cambodia: Year Ten (1989)
0h 58min
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- Synopsis:
Ten years after Year Zero revealed to the world the horrors perpetrated by Pol Pot, John Pilger and director David Munro returned to Cambodia to mark the Vietnamese withdrawal and reflect fears among the population that the Khmer Rouge would return. Cambodia: Year Ten shows how Pol Pot is living a life of luxury in Thailand, sustained by the United States and United Nations, with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher supporting the American administration’s policy in secretly backing the Khmer rouge in the border camps. Dith Pran, subject of the Oscar-winning film The Killing Fields, provides the voice of a Khmer speaking in English directly to viewers, while film shot by the Khmer Rouge themselves shows a raid on a village 30 kilometres inside Cambodia. Pilger points out that the Coalition of the Government of Democratic Kampuchea, recognised by the United Nations, is “not a coalition, it’s not a government, it’s not democratic and it’s not in Kampuchea” - it is simply a cover behind which Pol Pot’s defunct regime can represent their victims. American arms are sent to the so-called non-communist members of the coalition, but President Bush Sr. knows they will end up with the Khmer Rouge. Meanwhile, in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, the denial of development aid is having a disastrous effect on the country’s infrastructure, with buildings, bridges and roads collapsing. Food distribution has been affected by the Khmer Rouge’s mining of highways and Pilger finds scenes reminiscent of 1979 in Battambang Hospital. One in five children in Cambodia are dying of malnutrition and preventable diseases - “and they die for political reasons”, he adds. - Actors:
- Michael Wood
- Others:
- David Munro
- Aka:
- Viewpoint '89: Cambodia: Year 10
- Genres:
- Children & Family, Documentary, Special Interest
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