S21, la machine de mort khmère rouge

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3 formats5 subtitles languages

Under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime, between 1974 and 1979, nearly 20,000 people were interned, interrogated, tortured and then executed at the detention and torture centre in the heart of Phnom Penh, S21. Rithy Panh tries to understand how the Communist Party of Democratic Kampuchea organized and implemented its policy of systematic elimination. For nearly three years, the director has undertaken a long investigation among the rare survivors (seven survivors), but also among their former torturers. He convinced them all to come back and confront their testimonies together in the centre itself, which has been converted into a genocide museum. Confronting executioners and victims, Rithy Panh leads a moving reflection on the totalitarian mechanism.

• Asia, War, Modern history, Human rights