S21 The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2002)

{Winner! International Human Rights Award, Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema 2004}

{Winner! François Chalais Award, Cannes Film Festival 2003}

{Winner! Gold Plaque, Best Documentary, Chicago International Film Festival 2003}

{Winner! Best Documentary, European Film Awards 2003}

In 1975-79, almost two million Cambodians lost their lives to murder and famine when the Khmer Rouge forced the urban population into the countryside to fulfill their ideal of an agrarian utopia. The notorious detention center code-named 'S21' was the schoolhouse-turned prison where 17,000 men, women and children were tortured, interrogated and executed, their "crimes" meticulously documented to justify their execution.

In this award-winning documentary and astonishing historical document, Rithy Panh and his team undertook a three year investigation involving not only the survivors, but also their former torturers. They persuaded both groups to return to the actual site of what was formerly S21, now converted into a Genocide Museum, to face their past. One survivor, Vann Nath confronts his captors, some of whom were as young as 12 years old when they committed their atrocities.

Human Rights Watch, widely regarded as one of the most influential and important human rights organizations in the world, and First Run Features, which for 25 years has distributed films that confront human rights issues, formed a collaboration to bring awareness to films that shed light on human rights abuses throughout the world. S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine is the first title in the HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH SELECTS DVD series. Product Description

Compelling!!!! A must see

It is hard not to give this documentary 5 stars. What Vann Nath went through during those turbulent years that he spent in Tuol Sleng is simply unimaginable. To Acually get former Khmer Rouge guards together to re-enact their roles as prison guards at S21 is a feat in itself considering the whole "loss of face" that dominates S.E. Asian culture. It is totally understandable why Vann Nath would have a hard time forgiving his former captors but it is equally understandable as to why these former guards would shy away from taking responsibility and pass the blame to their superiors since to defy the Khmer Rouge "henchmen" could have cost them their own lives and again "saving face" which includes not OUTWARDLY admitting fault or taking responsibility even when you share in that responsibility is an unfortunate part of S.E. asian culture that is very diffcult for westerners to comprehend.

It would have been nice if this documentary provided some background information for people who are unfamiliar with the atrocities that took place in Cambodia from 1975-79, but even if one is not familiar with Cambodias' genocidal past, this documentary may help motivate people to learn more about this period in history. As far as providing footage from this period? What footage? There is none or at least very little since Pol Pot did not allow himself to be filmed and sealed off Cambodia to the rest of the world during the Khmer Rouge years, so very little (if any) footage of signifigance exists and this is the whole purpose for the re- enactment.

Vann Nath should serve as an inspiration for human kind. A man who endored so much tragedy and still was able to walk away not only with his life but with his dignity intact. May 6, 2008

A Noble Venture.

There are numerous outstanding elements within this documentary concerning the Khmer Rouge's murder center in Phnom Penh. My problem with the film though was that there was not a broad narrative spoken or alluded to with which to guide and inform the viewer. I would have liked to have seen a good 45 minutes of background analysis here before we joined former (and viciously tortured) prisoners Nath and Chum Mey on their tour of Tuol Sleng Prison. Their encounter with their former guards was both educational, memorable, and disturbing. Nath's observations struck a chord with me. Indeed, this was particularly true when he pointed out that he could not even bring himself to forgive those who persecuted him because none of them appeared remotely remorseful or asked for his forgiveness. He is correct regarding the great majority who eerily and vigorously reenacted their daily tasks at the prison for the camera. These scenes are especially chilling. As with everything in life though there are areas of gray. Former guard Houy is remorseful and admits that the experience ruined him forever. He feels a profound sense of guilt over what he has done but is incapable of communicating it to Nath or Mey. Instead, we hear his anger expressed at the Khmer Rouge and that his past continues to haunt him. S21 was a noble venture, but it moved far too slow and lacked a proper historical introduction in my opinion. January 29, 2008

Vann Nath someone I want to meet

Vann Nath is someone I would want to meet in this lifetime, what he has been through is beyond description! Facing and questioning the guards that held and tortured so many people, the strength it must have taken.

I rated this documentary 3 stars; because of the endless reenactments of the guards, lack of footage of Pol Pot, and no sense of the real genocide it was. Where were the paintings Vann Nath created depicting these events? I saw more in just a few minutes on Globe Trekker Cambodia (on PBS), then I did in this documentary.
June 30, 2007

S21 Khmer Rouge Killing Machine

Rithy Panh tracks virtually evry facet of the institution known as Tuol Sleng, or S21, the torture centre in Phnom Penh during the Pol Pot regime. Interviews with some of the few remaining victims are held in conjunction with those of the former guards and torturers. Panh shows the anguish and post traumatic shock experienced by both, and the film's most chilling point is the reenactment by a young guard of his nightly duties in tormenting and controlling the rooms of shackled prisoners. All in all, an excellent study of abuse of human rights under a totalitarian regime. March 26, 2007

Every second of our lives, truly blessed and gifted

A different kind of a documentary yet incredibly powerful and moving.

When we were young we were told that after our life on earth we would be resurrected before the God of death. Our crimes, every bit of them down to the minutest detail would then be read out and the punishment for the crimes would then be executed in Hell. Based on the intensity of the crime the appropriate mode of punishment would be meted out sparing no one and most importantly no little sin or crime committed during our earthly life. No would be allowed to die but endure the full measure of his/her punishment. To avoid telling lies or stealing or being dis-obedient a frightening and detailed list of various kinds of punishments were also told to us.

The Khmer Rouge brought a hell worse than this to earth. Their hell defies human imagination. Unlike the hell we used to be told in the stories, at S21 none of the victims knew what crimes they had done in their previous lives or in their present. There is so much talk about Karma in the documentary. The victims were not allowed to die, or even commit suicide. They had to go through torture, then forcibly sign confessions of crimes they never did and then executed for those crimes. So they were looked after to be tortured unto death. They were also told that their punishment would be reduced if they divulged the names of other people. Out of pain and fear of torture victims would name their own kith and kin. The Khmer Rouge had just found another good reason to rope in more victims.

Like another reviewer wrote, these guards manning the prison and indulging in such crimes under the orders of the Khmer Rouge supremos were suffering from some collective mental disorder. Were the perpetrators doing all this out of fear of their own survival in the Khmer Rouge. Like Macbeth after the first murder and the second the rest just seemed like a habit. People were slaughtered like animals. The worst of torture methods performed on them.

The documentary is about the meeting of painter Vann Nath and carpenter Chum Mey, survivors of S21 with the former guards of the prison. Van Nath and Chum Mey were two of the 7 survivors of the 14,000 prisoners who were tortured at S21 and subsequently killed at Choeung Euk. Vann nath himself admits in the documentary how lucky he has been as many painters, some even better than him were executed.

The guards, most of them who were in their teens when they did these crimes look serenely calm but having gone through hell themselves you wonder what is going on in their minds, remorse? regret? Sometimes they seem lost too maybe having realized what they have done and why they could do nothing about it. The enactments seem so natural and automatic as they might have done it ritually a zillion times. Even when Van nath asks them in an offending fashion they reply calmly, but not remorselessly or feeling offended. From deranged minds to minds of calm they look like victims who have been through hell too in the post-Khmer Rouge era. The death cries and screams, blood and the suffering of the victims they tortured and killed will never leave them and will haunt them till their own deaths.

In the beginning of the documentary when the Cambodian song is being played there is a black and white picture of the Cambodians working hard in the fields. It is a pathetic sight of them running around and working. So sad they never could reap the benefits of that labour, whether they worked hard out of fear or for the betterment of Cambodia. Also earlier in the documentary one of the killers (perpertrators of the crime) is shown handling a baby, his own I guess. I was wondering if the
thoughts of killing babies and children ever went through his head or maybe it still does and haunts him as he says he many a time suffers severe headaches and goes without eating for nights. At the end of the film, Van Nath is seen searching through some burnt rubble and picks up a button. How many times would have the victim wearing the shirt or skirt used that button on his/her cherished dress. How many times would have she or he cleaned it, polished it...

An innovative style of documentary making. Highly recommended if you are aware of the Cambodian genocide or better still, if you have watched Roland Joffe's "The Killing Fields". September 23, 2006

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