Rithy Panh
| Rithy Panh | |
|---|---|
Panh at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
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| Born |
Panh Rithy April 18, 1964 Phnom Penh, Cambodia |
| Citizenship | Cambodia, France |
| Education | Institut des hautes études cinématographiques |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Awards |
Un Certain Regard Albert Londres Prize Joseph Kessel Prize |
| Website | Bophana: Audio Visual Resource Center – Cambodia |
Rithy Panh (Khmer: ប៉ាន់ រិទ្ធី; born April 18, 1964) is an internationally and critically acclaimed Cambodian documentary film director and screenwriter.
The French-schooled director's films focus on the aftermath of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. Rithy Panh's works are from an authoritative viewpoint, because his family were expelled from Phnom Penh in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge. One after another, his father, mother, sisters and nephews died of starvation or exhaustion, as they were held in a remote labor camp in rural Cambodia.
Rithy Panh was born in Phnom Penh. His father was a school teacher and inspector of primary schools.
His family and other residents were expelled from the Cambodian capital in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge. Rithy's family suffered under the regime, and after he saw his parents, siblings and other relatives die of overwork or malnutrition, Rithy escaped to Thailand in 1979, where he lived for a time in a refugee camp at Mairut.
Eventually, he made his way to Paris, France. It was while he was attending vocational school to learn carpentry that he was handed a video camera during a party that he became interested in film-making. He went on to graduate from the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (Institute for the Advanced Cinematographic Studies). He returned to Cambodia in 1990, while still using Paris as a home base.
His first documentary feature film, Site 2, about a family of Cambodian refugees in a camp on the Thai-Cambodian border in the 1980s, was awarded "Grand Prix du Documentaire" at the Festival of Amiens.
His 1994 film, Rice People, is told in a docudrama style, about a rural family struggling with life in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia. It was in competition at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, and was submitted to the 67th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, the first time a Cambodian film had been submitted for an Oscar.
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