Bangkok--4 May--Extra Virgin
Award-winning Cambodian/British documentary feature film ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE will be released in cinema in Thailand on 19 May 2011 by independent distributor Extra Virgin.
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, the film follows the dedicated and at times personal pursuit of Cambodian journalist Thet Sambath, the co-director of the film along with British filmmaker Rob Lemkin, in his mission to look back and rediscover the truth behind one of the darkest periods in his country’s — and the world’s — history. At the centerpiece of the matter is high-level Khmer Rouge cadre Nuon Chea — aka Pol Pot’s Brother Number Two, who for the first time opened up on camera his testimony of the regime’s devastating atrocities on the killing fields.
Nuon Chea’s trial for crimes against humanity at the United Nations-backed court as one of the last remaining Khmer Rouge leaders is expected to begin this year.
After heavy international presence on the festival circuit throughout 2010, the theatrical release in Thailand will be the first time the film is screened in Southeast Asia outside Cambodia, where it is also the first Cambodian film to be released in Thailand in 40 years.
The film will be on exclusive release at SF World cinema, CentralWorld, as part of Extra Virgin’s Director’s Screen Project of independent films distribution in Thailand. The project is a collaboration with SF Cinema where 2 other Thai films will also be released subsequently: Aditya Assarat’s sophomore outing HI-SO and Sivaroj Kongsakul’s Rotterdam Tiger Award winner ETERNITY. The Thai release of ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE is also supported by Novotel Bangkok Fenix Ploenchit and White Light Studio.