Swimming to Cambodia

Swimming to Cambodia
Video cover
Directed by	Jonathan Demme
Produced by	Lewis M. Allen Renee Shafransky
Written by	Spalding Gray
Starring	Spalding Gray
Music by	Laurie Anderson
Cinematography	John Bailey
Edited by	Carol Littleton
Production company	The Swimming Company
Distributed by	Cinecom Pictures
Release date	1987
Running time	85 minutes
Language	English

Swimming to Cambodia, also known as Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia, is a 1987 American film written by and starring Spalding Gray, and directed by Jonathan Demme. The performance film is of Gray's play and monologue, which centered on such themes as his trip to Southeast Asia to create the role of the U.S. Ambassador's aide in the film The Killing Fields, the Cold War, Cambodia Year Zero, and his search for his "perfect moment". The film grossed slightly over $US1 million.

Gray published his monologue in book form in 1985.

Over a period of two years, Gray originally developed Swimming to Cambodia as a theatre performance piece. The original running time of the performance was a total of four hours long, and it was presented over two nights. Gray won an Obie award for this work.

In 2001, Gray revived Swimming to Cambodia, performing it on stage in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Albany, New York.

The opening shots of the film show Gray walking toward The Performing Garage in New York City. He goes in and, after walking past the audience, he takes a seat behind a table. On the table is a glass of water, a microphone, and a notebook, the latter brought by Gray. Behind him are two pull-down maps. One is a map of Southeast Asia and the other is a diagram of the bombing of Cambodia, which Gray tells the viewers/audience was called Operation Breakfast. There is also a back-lit projection screen showing a photograph of a beach.

Gray performs a monologue in which he discusses his experiences filming a small role in the movie The Killing Fields. He also expounds on the recent history of Cambodia up through the rise to power of the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Genocide. Three scenes from The Killing Fields that feature Gray are shown at various points in the film.