Enemies of the People

Two members of Thet Sambath’s immediate family were murdered during the Khmer Rouge’s time in power in Cambodia. His father was killed when he objected to the organisation's seizure of his property, while his mother was then forced into marriage with a Khmer Rouge militia. She died soon after following complications in childbirth. His older brother, who had witnessed the brutal murder of his father, was also later executed. Enemies of the People, a documentary made with Rob Lemkin, is Sambath's illuminating, admirably restrained insight into a brutal regime.

Sambath has spent the past decade doggedly pursuing the truth behind the secretive regime responsible for the deaths of up to two million Cambodian people from 1975 to 1979. A senior reporter for the Phnom Penh Post, he conducts the investigation in his spare time and at considerable financial and emotional cost: one sequence shows him leaving his wife and children, knowing they have insufficient money for food.

In what is both a remarkable achievement and an act of considerable self-restraint and bravery, Sambath has spent a decade befriending “Brother Number Two”, Nuon Chea, currently awaiting trial for crimes against humanity and described as the ideological leader of the Khmer Rouge. He is the man who installed Pol Pot as leader and the two worked closely together. Sambath eventually persuades him to open up on camera and acknowledge that he was aware of, if not complicit in, the widespread killing of innocents. During 10 years of what has ostensibly been a friendship, Thet has kept the circumstances surrounding his family’s deaths a secret and reveals this to Nuon in the film’s powerful climax.

Sambath’s seemingly non-judgmental attitude toward those responsible is apparent not only in his conversations with Nuon but also in his interactions with those who were ordered to carry out the killing. In another instance of almost superhuman patience, pragmatism and persistence, he wins the trust of two men - Khoun and Suon - who were individually responsible for dozens, if not hundreds of murders. At one point he even persuades a repentant Suon to starkly demonstrate his method of execution on a friend. There is a quiet yet powerful intimacy to the sequences where Khoun and Suon sit by the killing fields and cathartically confess their sins – never more so than when Suon describes his reluctant execution of a young garment weaver whom he fleetingly took pity on as she pleaded for her life. As well as evoking sympathy for those who were the instruments of the Khmer Rouge’s brutality, the film also features troubling descriptions of their barbarism, highlighting the extreme, dehumanising effect of the poisonous influence of the regime.

Enemies of the People is as much about the process of investigation and Sambath’s personal journey as it is about the information he uncovers. It shows Thet viewing and editing the footage, his excitement at the killers’ confessions and his wife’s reaction to his obsession - as well as his conflicted reaction when Nuon is finally arrested by the United Nations. Bit by bit he reveals the extent of his family tragedy before exposing Nuon Chea to the full force of his loss. Thet even talks us through the act of ingratiating himself to those he needs to extract information from, confiding for example that he might “make a funny” to win them over before gradually revealing his real purpose. We then witness this highly effective strategy in action during his initial interactions with an acquaintance of Suon’s.

The winner of the World Documentary Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2010 as well as Best Documentary at the recent British Independent Film Awards, Enemies of the People is a compassionate but never overwrought exposé of a period of monumental suffering. It has significant value as a historical document yet is deeply personal and its considerable triumphs are an inspirational testament to one man’s resilience and courage. For all these reasons it comes highly recommended.

Watch the trailer for Enemies of the People: