As the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War approaches
we look at the impact of the murderous regime in power in neighboring
Cambodia. The secret U.S. carpet bombing of Cambodia that began in 1969
killed as many as 500,000 civilians and contributed to the rise of the
Khmer Rouge. When the U.S. evacuated its troops during the fall of
Saigon on April 30, 1975, it came shortly after it had also withdrawn
its diplomatic staff in Phnom Penh in Cambodia. On April 17, 1975, the
Khmer Rouge marched into the capital city and began a forced evacuation.
Over the next four years it oversaw the death of nearly two million
Cambodians by starvation, torture and execution. It focused especially
on drawing out Western influences, targeting artists, intellectuals and
musicians. Now a new film uncovers the lost history of Cambodia’s rock
'n' roll musicians in the pre-Khmer Rouge era. It is called "Don’t Think
I’ve Forgotten."
In this extended interview, we feature excerpts from the film and speak with director John Pirozzi and Mol Kagnol, the guitarist and founding member of Cambodia’s first surf guitar band, Baksey Cham Krong. He lost 20 members of his family under the Khmer Rouge. We also speak with Dr. LinDa Saphan, associate producer of the documentary, who lived in Phnom Penh in 1975 and was forced to evacuate along with her family.
Today, many of the musicians who survived the Khmer Rouge and are featured in the film will be reunited for two historic concerts at the City Winery.
"Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll" is now playing in New York City at Film Forum and is set to tour the United States.
See more coverage by Democracy Now! of the U.S. war in Vietnam and Cambodia.
For more details, see the film’s website.
In this extended interview, we feature excerpts from the film and speak with director John Pirozzi and Mol Kagnol, the guitarist and founding member of Cambodia’s first surf guitar band, Baksey Cham Krong. He lost 20 members of his family under the Khmer Rouge. We also speak with Dr. LinDa Saphan, associate producer of the documentary, who lived in Phnom Penh in 1975 and was forced to evacuate along with her family.
Today, many of the musicians who survived the Khmer Rouge and are featured in the film will be reunited for two historic concerts at the City Winery.
"Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll" is now playing in New York City at Film Forum and is set to tour the United States.
See more coverage by Democracy Now! of the U.S. war in Vietnam and Cambodia.
For more details, see the film’s website.
Transcript
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. As the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War approaches, we look at a new film about the impact of the murderous regime in power in neighboring Cambodia. The secret U.S. carpet bombing of Cambodia that began in 1969 killed as many as half a million civilians—that’s right, 500,000 civilians—and contributed to the rise of the Khmer Rouge. When the U.S. evacuated its troops during the fall of Saigon on April 30th, 1975, it came shortly after it had also withdrawn its diplomatic staff from Phnom Penh in Cambodia. On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge marched into the capital city and began a forced evacuation. Over the next three years, eight months and 20 days, it oversaw the death of nearly two million Cambodians by starvation, torture and execution. It focused especially on drowning out Western influences, targeting intellectuals, artists and musicians.Now a new film opening here in New York uncovers the lost history of Cambodia’s rock 'n' roll musicians in the pre-Khmer Rouge era. It’s called Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten.
