A feature article ‘The Memory of a Nation’ about renowned filmmaker Rithy Panh who builds a home for Cambodian history was the front-page of the Cambodia Daily in this weekend issue.
Talking to Michelle Vacho and Kuch Naren, the news reporters, Rithy Panh said that the future of a country is not built overnight, as if by magic. “People speak of bolstering civil liberties, democracy and the rule of law in Cambodia, but for this to happen, we first must plant seeds as with rice, and the seeds are the memory [of the nation],” he added.
And he believes that we can be proud and happy to live if we know who we are, if we know our history. Then we are able to create, and imagine.
Born in 1964, he fled the country through Thailand in 1979, and moved to France where he studied cinema. Nowadays he works in a temporary office at the French Cultural Center, and hopes to create a national Audiovisual Resource Center.
Also, my latest weblog post on Global Voices Onilne this week: The Shadow of the Past
it’s funny i saw Rithy Panh at the restaurant paster yesterday,
he was having breakfast with other artistes who i remember, played in his films.
wish his project could be realized soon.
Hi Tharum,
I follow your blog with great interest, particularly since I left Cambodia and now work in Canada on my PhD (about minority rights in Asia). Your blog is a great source of information and inspiration. This article, for example, was very interesting and there does not seem a way to access it other than through your blog.
Thanks a lot,
Stefan
You can see the newsletter of ‘Hanuman’, the AudioVisual resource Center Rithy Panh is helping at
http://tinyurl.com/g95hh
- Jinja
Khmerbird,
Phnom Penh is not so big. So why not? In the article, he also works along with an expat, who is his advisor. So hopefully we will see fruits of his initiative.
Stefan,
Good to hear from you and know your whereabout. And I am glad to be informed that my writing is useful in some ways. Are you going to come back to Cambodia, and continue your work?
Jinja,
Thank you for pointing out the information about the center.