Directed by John Pirozzi | USA/Cambodia | French/Khmer w/ English Subtitles | 2015 | Documentary | 106 mins
Sponsor: Judy Gerber
Film Source: Argot Pictures
This moving and informative documentary by John Pirozzi, takes its name from a hit song of the 1960s which, like most of the music on the soundtrack, was part of a flourishing music scene in Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge regime put an end to it all. The music scene under the reign of Prince Sihanouk, himself a lover of pop music, a singer and a patron of the arts, is vibrantly portrayed in Pirozzi’s absorbing portrayal of the musicians and their fans. But the film, while focusing on the music, is a fresh reminder of the suffering and loss when all that stopped. And yet, while we aren’t spared testimonies of the cruel fate of most of these stars, Pirozzi manages to let us leave the theater inspired by the power of art.