Arte - Mysteries in the Archives Series 2 (2010) Part 9 1978 Images of the Khmer Rouge

Mysteries in the archives, ten investigations into ten events of the twentieth century that have marked our memory and our imagination. In the French series, we learn about the historical events of the 20th century by closely investigating archive films. Who is in the picture, who is missing? Why was the camera pointed right here? Who is sitting next to whom? The “Mysteries in the Archives” series takes us to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth and the Khmer Rouge camps, the occupation of Saigon and a Tour de France. We follow John F. Kennedy's visit to Berlin as well as the funeral a few months later, and we learn about the Shah's celebrations at ancient Persepolis and de Gaulle's scandalous speech in Quebec. By looking at the pictures again and more closely, the series reveals how history has been processed, told and manipulated in the pictures. Each image is carefully studied and analyzed until its secrets are revealed. The series explores the power of pictures to tell otherwise. It raises the question do we see what we know or can we know more with the help of the image? “Mysteries in the Archives” is a collection aiming to uncover and rediscover known or unpublished images that bear witness to our history. The audiovisual document becomes a piece of evidence that it is up to us to question, to make people talk. The image is scrutinized, dissected, and often, Mysteries in the Archives takes our gaze away from what the camera operator had seen or expected. Each episode is constructed as an investigation. Some are about cheerful and amusing topics, others are about more solemn, momentous events. Serge Viallet, a true detective of the image, reveals a multitude of new elements and significant anecdotes hidden behind the story as it was shown to us in cinemas and then on television. Meticulous investigations are undertaken - film is rummaged, sifted through and sorted, examined frame by frame and analyzed until it finally reveals its secrets. This collection includes all 10 episodes of season 2.

Part 9 1978 Images of the Khmer Rouge

In Phnom Penh, as elsewhere, there are no more cinemas and yet the Khmer Rouge are making many propaganda films designed to extol the merits of their regime. After Phnom Penh fell into the hands of the Khmer Rouge in April 1975, Cambodia found itself in complete isolation for three years. The Khmer Rouge are making a clean sweep of their past the terror regime is closing all banks, all trades are banned, and there are no more cinemas. Film screenings are not held in the capital or anywhere else in the country, but the Khmer Rouge made numerous propaganda films to glorify their regime. But which audience are these productions aimed at, and who shot them? What can these images tell us about the Khmer Rouge regime today?

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