Cambodia: The Struggle For Peace

Cambodia's strife-ridden recent history is the subject of this illuminating documentary which chronicles the political and social events from Prince Sihanouk's troubled reign during the Vietnam era to the present day efforts of Cambodia to reconstruct itself in the wake of the Khmer Rouge's genocidal governing during the mid-Seventies. Even today, years after the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities, slaughtering over a million people (mostly the intelligentsia--doctors, teachers, lawyers, etc.), the countryside is marked by mounds of skulls: the silent reminders of the days of the "killing fields." Having endured the depravity of the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodians were later the victims of their liberators: the Vietnamese. Aid to Cambodia was rerouted to Vietnam, and eventually the Vietnamese had to begin withdrawal from Cambodia due to their own problems with an inflationary and unstable economy at home. Cambodia, today trying to rebuild, is tremendously hampered by both political uncertainty for the future, and by the loss of educated peoples (during the Khmer Rouge's purge). Still, the mostly Buddhist population longs for a stable peace, something the war-torn country has not witnessed for decades. Shot over a 10-year period, this excellent documentary is an intelligent and disturbing assessment of modern Cambodia. Highly recommended. (Available from: Chip Taylor Communications, 15 Spollett Dr., Derry, NH 03038; 1-800-876-CHIP.)