bophana center, phnom penh
i spend my mornings in the bophana audiovisual resource center. part archive, part meeting space, part training facility, one of bophana's missions is to preserve the few fragments of cambodia's cinematic past that survived the khmer rouge. and there are few - nearly every reel was destroyed and the vast majority of the cambodian film stars of the 60s and early 70s killed at the hands of pol pot. other materials there include khmer rouge propaganda films, french (colonial propaganda) films, UN-funded edutainment, taped traditional dance performances... it's a treasure box. and a pandora's box of sorts. many cambodians who lived through the khmer rouge would rather forget what happened here 40 years ago, but recent population stats estimate that 40% of the population is under 30 years old. their trauma is passed down from their parents, and is shrouded in silence. they want to understand, to learn, to avoid the mistakes of their fathers. bophana provides the space for that learning.
it's a pretty amazing place. and on a side note, davy chou's golden slumbers (2012) is a really beautiful documentary about the cambodian film industry... and its remains. at once haunting, bewitching, and devastating - like everything in cambodia - it's not to be missed.
the center is currently running an exhibition dedicated a vann nath (1946-2011), the painter of S21, the infamous tuol sleng torture center. vann nath was arrested in rural cambodia in 1978 for "violating the moral code" of Angkar (which is khmer for "organization", which is how they referred to their communist government), and transferred to S21. he survived because the head of S21 discovered he could paint and hired him to paint portraits of pol pot. one of 7 survivors of an estimated 17,000 prisoners, vann nath spent the rest of his life painting and writing about his experiences.
the exhibition features artists inspired by nath and works honoring his:
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