The Killing Fields

Based on “The Death and Life of Dith Pran”, the 1980 New York Times article by Sydney Schanberg, a Pulitzer prize winner, this drama tells of the friendship between Schanberg and his Cambodian assistant, Dith Pran, during the Khmer Rouge and dictator Pol Pot Regime. The film begins in May 1973, in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Schanberg and Pran collaborate and succeed to report to the world about the civil war in Cambodia and the sometimes-destructive American intervention. 2 years later the Khmer Rouge win the war and Schanberg makes arrangements for the safe evacuation of Pran’s family and of himself to the US, but Pran himself is arrested and put in for the coming years in a forced “re-education” camp. This is director’s Roland Jaffe first feature film, which is considered as one of the most prominent films of Britain during the 80s. Winner of 3 Oscar awards: best supporting actor, best cinematography, and best film editing. Music by Mike Oldfield.