Mass murder, mental misery and movies:
How film productions can help Cambodians deal with their
traumatic past
Peter Gutter
Student number: S3220982Thesis BA Media Studies Supervisor and first reader: Rieke Böhling, MA Second reader: Dr. Rik Smit LJX999B10 Date of submission: 4 June 2020 Word count: 10082
Statement of authorship
I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this bachelor thesis and that all sources consulted have been duly acknowledged. I further declare that I have not submitted this thesis at any other institution in order to obtain a degree.
Groningen, 4 June 2020
Contents
Abstract………. p. 5 Acknowledgements……….. p. 6 Introduction………... p. 7 Why film productions?………. p. 8 Theoretical framework……….. p. 10 Trauma………. p. 10 Memory……… p. 12 Two paradigms………. p. 14 Methodology………. p. 15 Data collection………. p. 16 Informed consent………. p. 18 Analysis of the data………. p. 19 Results………... p. 20 Discussion of research results………... p. 25 Limitations………. p. 33 Conclusion………. p. 34 References………. p. 36 Audiovisual sources……….. p. 45 Appendix 1 – Transcript of interview one (woman, who was 45 when
interviewed on June 10, 2015)………. p. 46 Appendix 2 – Transcript of interview two (man, who was 63 when
interviewed on September 12, 2015)………... p. 52 Appendix 3 – Transcript of interview three (woman, who was 53 when
interviewed on November 28, 2015)……… p. 57 Appendix 4 – Transcript of interview four (woman, who was 59 when
interviewed on December 12, 2015)……… p. 62 Appendix 5 – Transcript of interview five (woman, who was 63 when
Appendix 6 – Transcript of interview six (man, who was 64 when
interviewed on January 16, 2016)……… p. 71 Appendix 7 – About the film Enemies of the People (2009)……… p. 75 Appendix 8 – About the film Le Temps des Aveux (2014)………... p. 78 Appendix 9 – About the film Survive (2009)………... p. 81 Appendix 10 – About the film The Killing Fields (1984)………. p. 84 Appendix 11 – About the film The Last Reel (2014)……….... p. 88 Appendix 12 – About the film The Missing Picture (2013)………. p. 91
Abstract
From the 1960s through to the 1990s, the Cambodian people suffered severely from aerial bombardments, civil war, and the mass murder committed under the Khmer Rouge regime. As a result, many Cambodians are traumatized. However, mental
healthcare in Cambodia is extremely limited. Inversely proportional to this has been the development of the media in Cambodia over the past three decades, with the result that Cambodia is now a media-rich society. This makes it relevant to find out how media, and more specifically film productions, might be able to help Cambodians deal with trauma. This study is based on an analysis of six interviews and six film productions. The selection of films was based on the interviews, as the respondents talked about specific films and ways in which these can help them deal with their traumatic past. The findings of this study suggest that there are at least eighteen ways in which film can help
Cambodians deal with traumatic experiences.
Keywords: post-conflict Cambodia, film productions, perpetrator cinema, trauma, memory, post-traumatic stress, dealing with trauma, cinematherapy.
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere thanks to the women and men who allowed me to interview them. I also would like to thank Mary, Ms. Chanthavy, Ms. Neary and Ms. Socheata for their help with the interviews. They are skilled translators of both language and culture. More importantly, they are friendly, patient and compassionate people who could speak with my respondents about some of the most difficult moments of their lives. My gratitude must also be given to Rithy Panh and the staff at the Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center in Phnom Penh for their time and insights. I would like to thank Dr. Dana Mustata and Rieke Böhling, MA, who commented on my research efforts and encouraged my work. My sincere appreciation extends to the many people in Cambodia who took the time to talk with me and share their knowledge and experiences. To my parents, thank you for your unwavering love and support.
Mass murder, mental misery and movies:
How film productions can help Cambodians deal with their traumatic past
Introduction
From the 1960s through to the 1990s, Cambodia faced a lot of turmoil in the form of aerial bombardments, civil war, and the murderous regime of the Khmer Rouge. As a 1 result, many Cambodians are traumatized (Sonis et al., 2009; Hein, 2015), and this trauma is also transmitted between generations (Field, Muong & Sochanvimean, 2013). In Cambodian society, mental problems are still surrounded by significant stigmatization (Jegannathan, Kullgren & Deva, 2014; Parry & Wilkinson, 2019). Cambodians usually do not talk about mental problems, which makes it ever so difficult to overcome the traumas from the past. There is strong evidence that exposure to traumatic events is a source of poor mental health outcomes in the long run (Mollica et al., 1998; Silove, Steel & Watters, 2000).
There are only 56 psychiatrists in Cambodia, which comes down to 0.33 per 100,000 people (Chhim, 2017, p. 135). That said, very few Cambodians can afford to consult a psychiatrist by any means (Cambodian doctor, personal communication, January 16, 2016). Cambodian people often use traditional (e.g. supernatural) and
religious (e.g. Buddhist) methods for treating mental problems (Jegannathan, Kullgren & Deva, 2014).
Over the past three decades, the media in Cambodia have developed significantly. This development has turned Cambodia into a “media-rich society” (McDaniel, 2007, p. 77), which makes it interesting and relevant to find out how media, and more specifically film productions, might be able to help Cambodians deal with trauma. Therefore, my research question is: How can film productions help Cambodians deal with their
1Khmer Rouge (also called Khmer Krahom) was the name of the Cambodian communist insurgency
movement in the 1950s, and later of the military branch of the Communist Party of Kampuchea. Khmer Rouge was also the name of the murderous regime through which the communist party ruled Cambodia in the period 1975-1979. King Norodom Sihanouk first coined the name Khmer Rouge in the 1950s as a general term for Cambodian left-wing political movements (Bergin, 2009, p. 20; Yimsut, 2011, p. 228). As many as two million people (or one-third of the Cambodian population at that time) died as a result of Khmer Rouge policies and practices (Linton, 2007, p. 198; Tyner, 2008, p. 2).
traumatic past? In addition to this, I am also posing two sub-questions to my research question, namely: how does trauma manifest itself in survivors of the Khmer Rouge, and what exactly helps their psychosocial resilience?
This study is based on an analysis of six interviews (see Appendices 1–6) and six film productions (see Appendices 7–12). The selection of films was based on the
interviews, as the respondents specifically talked about these films and ways in which these can help them deal with their traumatic past.
Why film productions?
Cambodia is a media-rich society, but I have specifically chosen the medium of film for my research because it is likely that other media forms are less suitable for helping Cambodians deal with trauma. According to staff at the Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center in Phnom Penh (personal communication, September 27, 2014), film has a far greater influence in Cambodia than print media. The country does not have a culture of reading, and there are only a few libraries. Hickok (2019, p. 281) also mentions that Cambodia has a national lack of experience with reading, and that many Cambodian people do not see reading as enjoyment but rather as “work”. Cambodians are much more likely to watch a two-hour movie than to read lengthy written material (Bophana Center staff, personal communication, September 27, 2014). Moreover, there is a lot of poverty in Cambodia, which makes buying food more necessary for many people than buying relatively expensive items like books, newspapers or magazines.
Cambodia has very low newspaper and magazine circulation figures (Cambodian newspaper editor, personal communication, October 27, 2014). According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2020), the literacy rate in Cambodia of people between 15 and 65 is approximately 80%. However, the nationwide literacy rate of people over 65 is only 53%. This means that Cambodia still has more than 2 million illiterate people (Hickok, 2019, p. 281). During the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979) most educated people were murdered, which means the loss of a whole generation of readers. This also means that print media are of rather limited
use for the older generation of Cambodians, who constitute the population group most severely affected by trauma.
In Cambodia, broadcasting has long had a greater influence than print media (McDaniel, 2007, p. 86). There are many radio stations and television channels, all of which are monitored by the government. If they dare to deal with politically sensitive issues, they can lose their broadcasting license very quickly. Trauma as a result of the Khmer Rouge regime is a politically sensitive issue, because there are still many influential former Khmer Rouge officials in the Cambodian government. Hence, it is unlikely that radio and television programmes are going to be beneficial regarding issues of trauma related to the Khmer Rouge years (Cambodian former journalist, personal communication, January 20, 2016).
Social media are also not really helpful in this regard. Facebook is by far the most influential among social media in Cambodia, but it has become highly politicized
(Kheang, 2019). The Internet is closely monitored and censored by the Cambodian government (Slavtcheva-Petkova & Bromley, 2019, p. 41), which turns it into an unsafe place for those who are dealing with trauma related to the Khmer Rouge years.
In comparison to television and radio, Cambodian filmmakers are relatively independent (Driskell, 2017, pp. 33-34). Although it is difficult for local filmmakers to earn money because the number of Cambodian moviegoers is relatively small (Ung, 2016), many films are offered in the local video markets for low prices. Film is a medium that can be easily shared with family and friends. This is important in Cambodian culture, which is characterized by an emphasis on doing things together (Bophana Center staff, personal communication, September 27, 2014). Film is also a medium that is accessible to illiterate citizens. Therefore, I want to argue that when issues of trauma are involved, more people in Cambodia can be reached with film productions than with other media forms.
Theoretical framework
I used to live and work in Cambodia from 2014 to 2016, and during this period I talked with many people who survived the regime of the Khmer Rouge. Approximately half of these conversations took place at the Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center in Phnom Penh. At the Center, I frequently talked with Cambodian people about personal 2 and societal impacts of film in their country.
The research question asks for a combined approach of audiovisual content analysis (in the context of representations) and the analysis of conversations with people (how they view and interpret these representations). The conceptual phenomena that are at the core of the main question I will be working with in my BA thesis, are trauma and memory. This also involves research into how trauma relates to collective memory, and the role of media in collective memory and re-interpreting the past.
Trauma
Regarding the concept of trauma, there is no straightforward definition
(Leydesdorff et al., 2002, p. 1). There is also no consensus among scientists about what constitutes trauma (BenEzer, 2002, p. 29; Wilson & Tang, 2007). It is often described as emotional shock (Tomlinson, 2005, p. 15). BenEzer (2002, p. 29) defines trauma in a psychoanalytical manner, namely as an event that happened in the outside world combined with the way in which it is experienced by the individual. Together, these internal and external realities may form a ‘traumatic state’ that can have pathological consequences (BenEzer, 2002, p. 29). In medical literature, ‘trauma’ often refers to the shock and the circumstances causing it, and not so much to the effect on body and mind. In psychological usage, trauma is defined in another way. For instance, Erikson (1995, p. 228) refers to it as the state of mind which is the result of shock. He does not see trauma as the result of just one event, but as the result of a pattern of life experiences. Hence,
2This Center tries to ameliorate the devastation of Cambodia’s cultural memory brought about by three
decades of war. The Bophana Center combines historical, societal and healing approaches. It focuses on the training of a new generation of Cambodian filmmakers, and has a research and documentation center (Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, 2020).
trauma may develop not only from one sudden event but also from continuing social circumstances (Leydesdorff et al., 2002, p. 2).
There is no direct translation in Khmer (the Cambodian language) for trauma, but it is often translated as bak sbat which means “broken courage” (Cambodian doctor, personal communication, January 16, 2016). Finding the right words to describe issues related to trauma, and translating these words from or into Khmer is very problematic. A Khmer term that is often used by Cambodians to talk about traumatic experiences is snarm, which means “scar” (Cambodian doctor, personal communication, January 16, 2016).
There are two main types of trauma, namely natural trauma, which is caused by natural disasters, and malignant trauma, caused by human beings (LaMothe, 1999). Trauma often results in mental health problems such as anxiety and depression (Marshall et al., 2005), somatic diseases (Avdibegović et al., 2010), and personality change (Beltran et al., 2008). According to LaMothe (1999), people with malignant trauma cannot be cured. He describes the sort of trauma caused by other human beings, such as rape and torture, as ‘betraying trauma’, which can never be fully healed (LaMothe, 1999). McFarlane & Van der Kolk (2007, p. 28) write that people who are traumatized in this way are often unable to speak about it; they feel that the traumatic experiences will never go away, that a cure is impossible, and that they have become strangers in the human world.
But is that how trauma manifests itself in survivors of the Khmer Rouge? For them, trauma is not just a psychiatric disorder but also a social experience. Even if people are traumatized so severely, they often still find ways to cope, as can be seen in
Cambodia. Many Cambodian survivors have been able to recover from their traumatic experiences, but what exactly helps their psychosocial resilience? This kind of resilience is considered as a protective resource after traumatic events (Ly, 2011). I have talked with many survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime who appeared to be doing surprisingly well. They often mentioned their culture and their religion, Buddhism, as principal factors contributing to their well-being.
People who are resilient show a capability to endure, adapt, survive and
recuperate after severe or life-threatening circumstances (Masten, 2001). This is closely related to culture and memory (Fortunati & Lamberti, 2008, pp. 129-130), and makes it relevant to determine how to situate trauma in the practices of consumption and
interpretation associated with the visual culture of Cambodia. Film productions can indeed transform individual trauma into collective trauma, and this is cultural work because it requires storytelling (Alexander & Butler Breese, 2016, p. 13). In addition to receiving social support, people who strongly identify with their cultural values are shielded by their traditional culture from the intense impact of traumatic experiences (De Vries, 2007, p. 400). Trauma is closely related to memory (Levine, 2015, pp. 2-3). For instance, traumatic experiences can affect and impair memory (Payne et al., 2004, p. 76).
Memory
Regarding the concept of memory, this is the ability of the mind to store
information. It can also refer to something remembered from the past. If we want to know how people deal with trauma through the medium of film, we will have to discover how events are remembered individually, how they are shared as a collective experience, and how they are reconstructed in media (Assmann, 2016, p. 4). It is also important to look at how individual memory links up to collective memory and the role of trauma in this regard (Alexander et al., 2004, p. 65), and the role of media in collective memory and in dealing with trauma (Elm, Kabalek & Köhne, 2014; Ly, 2020).
Collective memory refers to the common inventory of memories and knowledge shared by a social group (Roediger & Abel, 2015). This is very important for the social identity of the members of the group. Traumatic memory is a social construction as well (Hirschberger, 2018). Although trauma is experienced individually, it is in a social setting that someone comes to terms with it. That is how psychological responses to traumatic events can turn into collective trauma. The memory of the Cambodian genocide has affected a large group of people, and is represented in the collective memory. This encompasses both a reproduction of the tragic events and a continuing reconstruction of
the trauma in an attempt to understand it (Hirschberger, 2018). Therefore, it is important to discover the meaning of people’s life stories (BenEzer, 2002, p. 29). This can situate trauma in the visual culture of Cambodia as well. Hirschberger (2018) writes that
collective memory of trauma is not the same as individual memory, as collective memory continues beyond the individual survivors. It may even be commemorated by members of the group who did not witness the traumatic events themselves (Hirschberger, 2018). Talking about trauma, telling about one’s own traumatic past, is a personal necessity (Derezotes, 2014, p. 7). At the same time, its significance is inevitably social
(Leydesdorff et al., 2002, p. 11).
The collective memory of trauma is an ongoing social process that according to Hirschberger (2018) is mainly a process of construction of meaning. Creating meaning and maintaining it consists of a connection between the individual and society, and the feeling that one’s life matters (Heine, Proulx & Vohs, 2006). As can be seen in
Cambodia, collective traumatic memory has a far-reaching impact and affects social groups even many years after the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime. It also has serious consequences for ensuing generations (Field, Muong & Sochanvimean, 2013). As Hirschberger (2018) explains, the memory of trauma can lead to a paranoid and
incapacitating post-traumatic outlook, but can also lead to positive developments through the meaning generated by the trauma. This is a meaning which accentuates the group’s resilience and its capability to recover from the horrors of the past. Trauma and collective trauma can thus be linked to collective memory (Cazenave, 2018). Film productions can be helpful in establishing this link. In this context, Cazenave (2018) gives the example of Rithy Panh’s film The Missing Picture, which deals with traumatic events and offers a return to a site of memory.
There is still a lot of stigmatization of mental problems in Cambodian society (Parry & Wilkinson, 2019), which makes it difficult for people to talk about trauma. Collective memory is also repressed as a result. Talking about it can have therapeutic effects though, and Atkinson (2011, p. 10) emphasizes that psychotherapy is also called the “talking cure”. This makes it relevant to find out whether film productions can help to
make it easier for Cambodian people to talk about trauma. If so, this might have a therapeutic effect and lead to a meaningful step towards a healing process.
Two paradigms
In March 2020, during my preparations for this theoretical framework, a highly relevant book by Raya Morag was published. It is entitled Perpetrator cinema:
Confronting genocide in Cambodian documentary. In this book, Morag (2020, p. 23) looks at Cambodian film productions from the perspective of two interrelated
“perpetratorhood paradigms”: the duel paradigm and the moral resentment paradigm. These will be relevant in the analysis of the audiovisual productions. Some of the films that I will describe in my thesis are about face-to-face confrontations between Khmer Rouge perpetrators and survivors. Nowadays, many perpetrators still yield power and live among their former victims. This intimacy of a horrible, intimidating neighborhood often makes the victims feel powerless. Films such as Survive (2009) and Enemies of the People (2009), which are described in this thesis, confront the perpetrators with their evil deeds. Morag (2020, p. 23) suggests to regard this as a duel, because of its implicit or explicit transformation of power relations. She also uses the term “interview-duel” in this regard. Because the films are viewed by a wide audience, it breaks the intimacy of the horrible neighborhood. This can empower victims, which in turn can help them deal with their trauma.
The film productions described in this thesis acknowledge the relationships in Cambodian society concerning the problem of perpetration and collaboration. There were so many people involved in the Khmer Rouge that it is not feasible to bring them all to trial. This has resulted in two phenomena that are ideologically and historically
interrelated: moral resentment and the transformation of the ethical consciousness of spectators. According to Morag (2020, p. 30), reconciliation and forgiveness have been defied. The politics of forgetting, which has become hegemonic in Cambodia, means that nothing has healed. It also has a repressing aspect. The current political leadership in Cambodia consists of people who were members of the Khmer Rouge themselves. They
categorically deny any wrongdoing by the Khmer Rouge. The result of this (Morag, 2020, p. 30) is that time cannot heal the traumas because the denial creates an
“everlasting now”. However, there can be no such thing as a forced reconciliation. This may be why there is so much moral resentment in Cambodia against the politics of forgetting. There has never been a politically supported programme of forgiveness such as the one that took place in South Africa. There is a lot of pressure on Cambodian victims of the torture and violence to repress, overcome or deny their identity, which is immoral (Morag, 2020, p. 32). There is a conflict between societal progress and victims’ struggle with the past, and there is another conflict between survivors’ need for
recognition and social stability by means of reconciliation. Morag also points at the unsolvable dissonance between survivors who are not ready to forgive and forget, and a society which demands forgiveness. Films can reconstruct the time of the Khmer Rouge into a form of resentment. Returning to the past as an act of resentment can break open the “everlasting now” that is caused by denial.
Methodology
For this study, I have chosen for a multi-methods research design consisting of audiovisual analysis and unstructured interviews (which are in the form of open-ended conversations). The need for this combination presented itself almost automatically, because my respondents talked both about their traumatic experiences and the films they had seen. More specifically, they talked about the link between what they found
important in the film(s) and their own experiences. Combining methods enabled me to address these different dimensions. This is also where literature research proves to be useful, because the more the interviewer knows about a specific context, the more likely it is that significant historical information can be elicited from an interview. It will also make it possible to place the respondent’s story within the events more exactly
(Thompson & Bornat, 2017, p. 309).
Unstructured interviewing is usually the approach to stories of trauma. This enables the researcher to aim attention at the complex feelings, voices and emotions of
respondents, and also at the signification within spoken words. In this way, unstructured interviews can be purposeful and in-depth conversations that provide information about life histories and complex issues and emotions (Atkinson, 2011, p. 10). This can be helpful to understand people’s social, cultural and historical experiences. It is also called the method of life story interviewing (Atkinson, 2011, p. 4).
A lot of data was collected by conducting unstructured interviews, i.e. life story interviews, while the analysis of these data was conducted as a narrative or text-based one. I have transcribed the interviews in full (see Appendices 1–6). The selection of film productions for this study was based on the interviews, as my respondents talked about six specific films (see Appendices 7–12) and ways in which these can help the
respondents deal with their traumatic past.
The life story interview is a primary source (Atkinson, 2011, p. 2). It is also a first-person narrative account, with minimal guidance by the researcher. Such a
free-flowing interview form is also suitable for my research question. Looking at societal issues through personal accounts, subjective experiences and insider stories facilitate the understanding of such issues (Thompson & Bornat, 2017, p. 313). Because the life story interview is the most open type of interviewing, it can create a safe atmosphere to talk about sensitive issues such as traumatic experiences.
Transcribing the interviews yielded sufficient data to conduct a narrative analysis (Thompson & Bornat, 2017, p. 362). It eventually helped to provide an answer to my research question. I have tried as much as possible to base the interpretation on the way the respondents interpret their own experiences.
Data collection
The data I gathered in Cambodia in the period 2014-2016 was originally intended for use in a publication on contemporary Cambodian film. The data can be repurposed 3 for this study, in which I used the same interview questions. By 2016, the average age of
3The publication would have been part of a book series on Southeast Asian art and culture by a Thai
publisher. Unfortunately the book series never came to see the light of day, and as a result my publication did not materialize. At that time I had no idea that I would be studying media at a university a couple of years later, and that I would still be able to use the data I collected.
my respondents was 58. They were born between 1952 and 1970, which means that they all experienced the horrors of the Khmer Rouge period. I did not know my respondents beforehand, but as I met most of them at the Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, I knew they had to be interested in the medium of film. This often created a useful and interesting starting point for a conversation. I hardly speak any Khmer, but the people I talked with could usually speak English sufficiently well. Every now and then I was assisted by a friendly bystander or a volunteer from the Bophana Center who was willing to act as an interpreter. I also found some respondents via other routes, for instance at a bakery and a laundry shop which I frequented almost every day.
The focus of the conversations was on life story elements, for which I have used both purposive and convenience sampling. When I talked with visitors of the Bophana Center, this was based on convenience sampling as they were usually available by chance. The gathered data included information about how respondents remembered and understood their traumatic experiences, and the relation between these experiences and particular film productions.
For the interviews I used only a few interview questions. The first question I usually used, to set the narrative in motion, was: “Will you tell me about your life?” When the respondents told me about their lives, some strands of meaning came to the surface so that I could detect these for my analysis. These are what Delanty and Strydom (2003, p. 91) call the signification structures on which social discourse is based. The second question I used was about the respondent’s thoughts about the particular film he or she had seen. The third question I used for the interviews was the one that came closest to my current research question, namely, “Do you think this film can help you deal with your memories of the Khmer Rouge regime?” This could have been followed by the question as to how this would be possible, but I never needed to ask this because my respondents already started to tell me about it spontaneously.
During the interview process I tried to adopt a phenomenological stance. Because I had visited Cambodia many times between 1990 and 2014, I already had my own ideas about the cultural and social structures for this population, so it was a challenge for me to
interview people in such a way that I would hear their life stories without assumptions. Because as human beings, we tend to interpret events from our own sociocultural beliefs (Delanty & Strydom, 2003, p. 96). So, it was essential to take a step back if I wanted to hear the respondents’ experiences in their own words. I therefore tried to keep my knowledge and biases at a distance in the interview setting. This approach was necessary for understanding what the respondents actually said (Anderson & Jack, 1991, p. 18). I also took the cross-cultural context into account. Fortunately, I did not encounter problems of trust or misunderstandings that can arise in an inter-cultural setting.
Informed consent
Regarding the issue of informed consent, before interviewing respondents I informed them about the intention of my research and that they would remain anonymous. The respondents agreed with this. Informed consent is commonly
acknowledged as an important element of ethical practice when interviews are part of research. It includes providing respondents with information about the intention of the study, what their cooperation will entail, and how their data will be managed. The practice of informed consent should emphasize that cooperating is voluntary and can be discontinued at any stage during the research process (Marshall, 2007, p. 23). In this regard it is also important to look at the cultural and social context. As far as I have received any personal information that could identify someone, it has been omitted in the transcripts to guarantee confidentiality and anonymity. I can still use the data because these have been de-identified. It is not possible for me to find respondents back to regain consent, but there is also no risk that sharing the data will cause any harm towards them. This means that my interview data can be repurposed (Utrecht University, 2020).
Ideally the researcher should obtain written consent, on a consent form. However, this presents a problem in the context at hand. Asking people for their signature on a printed form is a sensitive issue in Cambodia. It will arouse a considerable amount of suspicion, especially when you ask survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime to do this (Cambodian former journalist, personal communication, January 20, 2016). From 1975 to
1979, the Khmer Rouge forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to sign confessions, known as “autobiographies”, in which they unavoidably admitted to being foreign agents. If people refused to sign, they would be tortured and mistreated until they admitted to being spies or foreign agents (Chandler, 2000, pp. 89-91). People who signed such forced confessions were usually killed shortly afterwards. As a result, signing a document has become a rather uneasy affair for many people who survived the Khmer Rouge regime. In addition to this, in Khmer the description of “life stories” is similar to that of
“autobiographies”, hence the reluctance of many Cambodian people to place a signature on any document related to this. That is why I obtained informed verbal consent, which under the circumstances is possible and appropriate (ASA, 2011, p. 2).
Analysis of the data
Combining the interviews with literature research and audiovisual analysis of six specific film productions mentioned in the interviews, led to a combination of data. The analysis of these data was conducted as a narrative or text-based one, which enabled the detection of the different elements of meaning in the text. The focus of narrative analysis is on the interview itself, which is regarded as an oral text (Thompson & Bornat, 2017, pp. 270-271). I took great care not to interrupt the flow of the respondent’s life story. It allows for an unstructured flow in the interview and leads to the pieces of information that contribute to an explanation between action and meaning, and between behaviour and beliefs. This has been described as listening for meaning (Anderson & Jack, 1991, pp. 18-19). The interviews were evaluated as texts, as content types and as evidence. 4
What has also been very helpful for answering my research question is that all
respondents mentioned ways in which particular film productions have been or can be helpful in dealing with trauma.
4This means that I read every interview as a text, to gather its general meaning, and that I looked at
different content types in the interview, to distinguish between the respondent’s subjective life experiences and more objective general information. I also paid attention to the consistency of the interviews, so that symbolic evidence of, for example, contradictions or generalizations might be revealed (Thompson & Bornat, 2017, p. 272).
The audiovisual data was also analysed as texts. Films and documentaries have the same characteristics as texts, because they carry meaning and are subject to the interpretation of audiences (Bellour, 2000, p. 21). For the project at hand, the analysis consisted of a close reading and critical examination of the audiovisual texts (Bordwell, 2013, pp. 443-446). I looked for meaning in the audiovisual content my respondents 5
talked about.
In the analysis of the interviews, BenEzer’s chapter (2002) on trauma signals in life stories proved particularly useful. BenEzer studied the ways in which interviewees express traumatic experiences in the narratives, and suggests thirteen signals of trauma in interviews. I detected six of these signals in the interviews I conducted, which will be discussed in the results section. I should add here that the events in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime would, in all probability, have led to traumatizing effects on any individual. Moreover, traumatization is also related to the meaning of an event for an individual. The meaning that is given to a traumatic event is related to someone’s life story.
Results
The life stories that I have used for my thesis (see Appendices 1–6) all include more than one signal of trauma. BenEzer (2002, pp. 34-36) describes how traumatic experiences can be detected in life stories, and points at particular forms of expression within the narrative. The most obvious one is self-report, when the respondent tells about a particular event as being traumatic. This was present in all interviews. For example, all respondents told about the special painfulness of particular events, with an emphasis on these being very distressing, and they all referred to negative and long-term troubling
5This meaning is constructed at three different levels, namely social codes (e.g. speech, behaviour);
representational or technical codes (e.g. camera work); and ideological codes. The ideological codes include the values that form an interpretative framework for the social and representational codes (e.g. communism, good/evil). The social codes help identify the social, cultural and historical context in which meaning is constructed. The technical codes shape the narrative and depict the representations of the characters and the action (Young, 2012, pp. 30-31).
effects on the individual. This included the form of telling about what BenEzer describes as intrusive images or ‘images of ultimate horror’.
What also occurred was a long silence after the narration of a painful event, which happened in interview five. And a sudden loss of emotional control occurred when the respondent in interview one started to cry. Such moments were difficult for me as well, because I felt that I had no right to stir up all those bad memories in my respondents, but fortunately none of them seemed to blame me. I found it difficult to communicate with trauma survivors. They had experienced things that are difficult to grasp for an outsider. For instance, how can an outsider ever understand what it was like to see your family members executed? How to respond? In the interview situations, this problem was more or less resolved by the respondents themselves, as most of them sounded somewhat matter-of-fact about the experiences and events. As one of my translators remarked: “In Cambodia, almost everyone has these stories.”
The respondent in interview six showed emotional detachment when he told about events that must have been horrifying, but did not show emotions during the narration. It seems as if there was some sort of forced detachment: a particular event was so traumatic that it does not fit into the respondent’s emotional life. He carefully stayed within the verbal mode of reporting though, with a facial expression that did not convey his
emotional state, and with an unvarying tone of voice. In contrast to this, in interview five, the respondent’s narration of trauma was accompanied by changes in voice, as her voice broke with emotion. Each interview included more than one trauma signal.
As described in the methodology section, the analysis of the interviews was combined with literature research and audiovisual analysis of six film productions (see Appendices 7–12) that were mentioned by the respondents in the interviews. All
interviews analyzed for this study revealed various ways in which film productions might be helpful in dealing with trauma, which are described in detail in the next section. The overarching issue that I found in the interviews is that the respondents show a feeling of relief, that the film(s) they are talking about somehow make(s) it possible to break the silence on mental problems, and that it is not wrong to talk about traumatic experiences.
In this regard, Atkinson (2011, p. 10) refers to the therapeutic effects that talking can have, and reminds us that psychotherapy is also called the “talking cure”. The
respondents’ relief, caused by the realization that it is alright to talk about trauma, also confirms the painful social stigmatization of mental problems in Cambodia (Jegannathan, Kullgren & Deva, 2014; Parry & Wilkinson, 2019). For instance, in interview four (see Appendix 4), the respondent indicates that:
“I feel more relieved now I know that it’s not wrong to talk about it. I thought for a long time that I was the only one with bad memories. I thought, I can’t talk about it. Otherwise everyone will think that I’m crazy, or something like that. But it is not wrong to talk about those terrible years. I realize that now. It is good to talk about it.”
In interview six (see Appendix 6), the respondent says about this:
“Many people in Cambodia don’t want to talk about the Khmer Rouge years. They think that if they talk about it, everybody will think they’re crazy. So it is good that Rithy Panh has made a film about it. I hope many people start to talk about what they have seen, what they have gone through.”
When listening for meaning, several respondents use the word ‘crazy’ in the context of traumatic experiences. There is no direct translation in Khmer for trauma, but it is often translated as bak sbat which means “broken courage” (Cambodian doctor, personal communication, January 16, 2016). The respondent uses this term in interview one. Another Khmer term that is frequently used by Cambodians to talk about traumatic experiences is snarm, which means “scar”. The respondents use this term in interviews four and five. This is an example from interview four:
“Many people don’t want to talk about the Khmer Rouge years. Maybe it’s too difficult for them. But if you always keep quiet, the pain doesn’t go away. It’s ‘snarm’, as we call it. I don’t know how to translate that.”
According to a Cambodian doctor (personal communication, January 16, 2016), the terms bak sbat and snarm form important reference points when analyzing trauma in the
Cambodian cultural context. When talking about effects of trauma, it becomes even more difficult. For example, Cambodians who are suffering from mental problems such as
depression or anxiety may also say they are “thinking too much”, that they have a “crazy mind”, or that they are “feeling nonsense in the brain”. In interview four, for instance, the respondent says:
“Thinking too much can make you crazy.”
There is still little understanding of mental issues among the Cambodian population. There are some specific idioms used by Cambodians when talking about mental problems, such as thinking too much (kit chraen), being ‘crazy’ (chhkuot, a term also used for schizophrenia or psychological distress), and flashbacks of traumatic
experiences (sramay). In interview six, the respondent mentions the term sramay. His wife is suffering from sramay, which has a big impact on the respondent’s life as well.
In interview four, the respondent says something very significant about ways in which film can help the mourning process, and how it can help evoke feelings and memories that a traumatized viewer can relate to. She tells about the burial scene in The Missing Picture, and how this relates to her feelings:
“The burial scene, it felt like it wouldn’t stop. That it would never end. And that is how it felt for me, for such a long time. Like a burial that doesn’t stop.”
According to Cazenave (2018), the burial scene in the film The Missing Picture (see Appendix 12) is significant, because under the Khmer Rouge, the dead hardly received any mourning; they were just thrown into mass graves. With this scene, Rithy Panh shows the elimination not only of people, but also of mourning practices. Rituals of mourning are however very important for coping with trauma (Cazenave, 2018). The Khmer Rouge made mourning, and thus the process of healing trauma, more difficult. It became a never-ending burial.
Wagner and Unger (2018) write that animation by the clay figurines in The Missing Picture can help evoke feelings and memories that the viewer can relate to. For instance, when people see a photo of a face, they see it as the face of somebody else. But when they are confronted with animations, such as cartoons or figurines, they see
themselves. Rithy Panh uses the figurines together with archival footage, and combines it with his own personal memories that are enacted by the figurines. This engages the viewer through interpretation (Wagner & Unger, 2018). It is an interpretation based on an openness of meaning. The respondent in interview four says about this:
“I like the fact that there are no human actors in [this film]. I don’t know, I think it would be too difficult for me to look into the face of an actor who plays a Khmer Rouge soldier. It would make it too real. It would be too scary for me. But the clay figurines, they are different. They symbolize Cambodian people. They symbolize us. They told me a story that is also my story.”
What the respondent says here conforms with what Boyle and Panh (2014, p. 33) write about the clay figurines in The Missing Picture, namely that the figurines are the missing picture. They tell a story. Like my respondent says in the passage above: they told her a story that is also her story. So although the figurines do not speak, they revive the word that was killed by the Khmer Rouge, which relates to what the respondent says in interview six. In this way, silence gives a voice to the survivors of trauma. The quiet figurines bring the word back to life. Interestingly, they also represent the dead (Morag, 2015, p. 97), and thus play a meaningful double role.
Film can also present a possibility of closure. For example, the respondent in interview two hopes that viewing a particular scene from the film The Killing Fields (see Appendix 10) can make his bad memories better.
Moreover, film can help to increase awareness about trauma and the
intergenerational dimension of this. The respondents in interviews one, three and five recognize this, and appreciate the educational aspect of film to young people. For instance, the respondent in interview one says about this:
“[Young people] are not suffering, they don’t have bak sbat. My mother is suffering a lot but these young people, they don’t know. Maybe that’s good. But I am also thinking, maybe it’s not so good. They don’t know about the Khmer Rouge, how bad it was. I think they should see many films about it. It will educate them.”
Film can help survivors come to terms with the past through the encounter with the perpetrator. The respondent in interview three found it unbearable that during the Khmer Rouge period, the evil regime was “faceless”. However, now that the respondent has seen the film Enemies of the People (see Appendix 7), she has also seen the face of Nuon Chea, one of the top leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime. The respondent says about this:
“I found it difficult to watch the film, but I’m also happy I have seen it.” In addition to this, film productions can inspire survivors to deal with trauma in ways they did not think of before. In interview one, the respondent tells that the film Survive (see Appendix 9) inspired her and her mother to go back to a village where they had been forced to work during the Khmer Rouge regime. The respondent says about this:
“Afterwards [my mother] said: I would never have done this if I had not seen that film. Now she is very happy that she went back.”
In the following section, I will be looking at the interviews and the films discussed by the respondents in more detail, and from a more theoretical perspective.
Discussion of research results
The multi-methods approach consisting of audiovisual analysis and unstructured interviews, combined with literature research, has yielded a variety of results. The research findings indicate at least eighteen ways in which film productions can help Cambodians deal with their traumatic past. These ways are not listed here in order of prominence, but in the order in which my analysis revealed them; the only reason they are numbered is to make it easier to distinguish between them.
First, film productions can help to give trauma a place. This can help break social taboos, and can help reduce stigmatization of mental problems by enabling discussion. This sends a message to survivors that it is acceptable to talk about traumatic experiences (Sharp, Smith & Cole, 2002). It can reassure trauma victims that they are not to blame, and that they are not ‘crazy’. This is an overarching issue that I found in the interviews. The respondents show a feeling of relief, that the film(s) they are talking about somehow
make(s) it possible to break the silence on mental problems, and that it is not wrong to talk about traumatic experiences. Film can help evoke feelings and memories that the viewer can relate to, for instance the condition of the girl’s mother in The Last Reel, which is recognized by the respondent in interview five; the situation in the village in Survive, which is recognized by the respondent in interview one; or through animation by the clay figurines in The Missing Picture, which is recognized by the respondents in interviews four and six. In the Cambodian context, talking about trauma has become more socially accepted due to film productions (Bophana Center staff, personal communication, September 27, 2014).
Second, film productions can help reveal trauma symptoms suffered by the survivors. This can be an important first step towards a healing process (Morag, 2020, p. 27). In interview one, my respondent had already recognized the trauma her mother is suffering from. The respondent and her mother often speak with the abbot of a local Buddhist monastery for advice on this. The respondent also recognized the impact of the film Survive on her traumatized mother and on herself.
Third, film productions can make it easier for survivors to narrate their own experiences as victims and testify. It generates additional evidence. This has become particularly relevant in the context of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. According to Morag 6 (2020, p. 122), the proceedings at the Tribunal serve as a focus of attention for
perpetrator cinema. Testimonies of survivors and accounts by perpetrators have finally entered the public sphere because of film, in the absence of any social-intellectual movement in Cambodia (Morag, 2020, p. 22). Hence, film productions such as
documentaries supplement the legal proceedings. In this regard, by documenting human rights abuses, film productions can help indirectly as a way to defend human rights (Canet, 2018).
6 This Tribunal is also known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC, see
https://www.eccc.gov.kh/en). It is a special Cambodian court supported by the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT). The Tribunal was established in Phnom Penh in 2004, to bring senior members of the former Khmer Rouge regime to justice for serious crimes committed during the Cambodian genocide (1975-1979).
Fourth, film productions can help the mourning process. Mourning is a process that helps to heal from grief, and is necessary to recover from trauma (Berezin, 2015). Also rituals of mourning, such as funerals, are very important for coping with trauma (Cazenave, 2018). Mourning does not bring loved ones back to life, but it allows them to live on in our memory. In this way, a painful loss can become enshrined as a loving memory (Berezin, 2015). The Khmer Rouge did not allow people to mourn over the dead. This is something the respondent describes in interview two. The Khmer Rouge not only eliminated people, but also mourning practices. Film can function as a work of mourning, through its memorialization of loss (Hamilton, 2013b). Film can also create cultural symbols for mourning (Morag, 2020, p. 22), although Rithy Panh considers mourning to be impossible, which is symbolized by the clay figurine that represents his father being buried in The Missing Picture. This burial scene is repeated (see Appendix 12), but every time his father’s head remains visible. Rithy Panh finds this unbearable (Panh & Bataille, 2011, pp. 61-62). Nevertheless, Cazenave (2018) describes the clay figurines in The Missing Picture as embodying the materiality of mourning in Cambodia. In addition to this, Morag (2020, p. 34) writes that repeating the burial scene is also a way of expressing moral resentment.
Fifth, film productions present a possibility of closure. Brown and Rafter (2013) write that genocides from the past cannot be understood in any direct way. They look at the documentary film Enemies of the People as an example of a medium that may help to understand the Cambodian genocide both theoretically and empirically. This film raises important issues of meaning, witnessing and remembering. Essential for trauma recovery is to find meaning in the event that caused it (Kalayjian, 2010). Moreover, closure is only possible if people have learned the true story, and if there is some semblance of justice. The presence of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal can help in this regard, as this might reduce the prevalence and severity of trauma (Sonis et al., 2009).
Sixth, film productions can help to increase awareness about trauma and the intergenerational dimension of this in Cambodia, for example in The Last Reel. As a result, this can help to do something against the intergenerational transmission of trauma.
In this context, the educational aspect of film to young people is highly appreciated by the respondents in interviews one, three, and five.
Seventh, film can help evoke feelings and memories that a traumatized viewer can relate to. For instance, Wagner and Unger (2018) write that animation by the clay
figurines in The Missing Picture can help with this, as they represent the dead. The respondents in interviews four and six mention this. According to Guillou (2012), the Cambodian system of memory and mourning is not a linear one in which suffering and trauma would automatically lessen over time, but a circular one. This means that the dead may reappear into the world of the living every now and then, which represents an
alternative memory of the Khmer Rouge genocide. Such a system of memory would likely be lost on an audience used to a linear system of memory. This makes a film such as The Missing Picture particularly useful for a Cambodian audience. Boyle (2020, p. 519) remarks that when traumatic events are represented, different cultures need different cinematic approaches.
Eighth, film productions can help survivors come to terms with the past through the encounter with the perpetrator (Morag, 2020, p. 27). Films have given the Khmer Rouge leadership and the Angkar a “face”. The people who were in charge, and who 7 were thus responsible, remained hidden and unknown during the Khmer Rouge years, but now they have a face due to interviews in for example Enemies of the People and
Survive. The fact that the evil was “faceless” was unbearable for the survivor in interview three, but now that she has seen Nuon Chea’s face, she hopes she will somehow be able 8 to come to terms with the evil. The confrontation (or duel) with perpetrators embodies a process of what French philosopher Bourdieu describes as “symbolic violence”. This is a sort of non-physical violence, a battle over domination, manifested between different
7Angkar (“The Organization”) was also known as “The Angkar” or Angkar Padevoat (Revolutionary
Organization). Most people in Cambodia had no idea what or who Angkar was. It effectively concealed the identity of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge. The only thing that was clear was that it ruled the country, that it represented an authority. Khmer Rouge cadres talked about it as if it was a religion (Tyner, 2008, p. 154). All slogans and orders of the Khmer Rouge were issued in the name of Angkar. Only in 1977 were the Cambodian people finally told that Angkar was in fact the Communist Party (Vachon, 2014).
8Nuon Chea was prime minister of Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979). He was
social groups or domains such as ethnicity, gender or nationality (Bourdieu, 2001, pp. 33-34). The duel setting is an example of symbolic violence between perpetrator and survivor. It has an empowering effect because the perpetrator and survivor meet as equals, which is a form of what Bourdieu (1989) describes as symbolic power.
The encounter with the perpetrator can also have disadvantages though. For instance, in Enemies of the People, Nuon Chea denies any wrongdoing and tries to manipulate Thet Sambath. Likewise, in Survive, Khieu Samphan tries to manipulate Roshane Saidnattar. This accentuates Roshane’s (i.e. the survivor’s) feelings of helplessness and devastation. According to Morag (2020, p. 28), there is even a threat that denials, lying, and manipulation by perpetrators can cause a secondary
traumatization of survivors. Moreover, there is also a threat that ethics collapses into the political sphere. Film is a cultural product that can turn the previous horror into a new form of collective memory, namely that of the perpetrator. Morag (2020, p. 11) explains that perpetrator cinema often fails to unravel the mystery of the perpetrator’s intentions because it directly focuses on perpetratorhood. This might emphasize the tension between memory and epistemology, i.e. the tension between memory, justified belief and opinion. Morag is concerned that this may lead to a memory compensation as a redemption from guilt. Personally, I am more concerned that perpetrator cinema may act out narratives of victimization. In Enemies of the People, for instance, perpetrators perceive themselves as victims and passive witnesses who are not even indirectly responsible for the brutality enacted against citizens.
Ninth, film productions can inspire survivors to deal with trauma in ways they did not think of before. It can encourage survivors to face the situation and help them into action, which can give them a sense of control (Bendheim Guedalia, 2015, p. 418). For example, the film Survive inspired the respondent and her mother (in interview one) to go back to the village where they had been forced to live during the Khmer Rouge years, and seek the confrontation with perpetrators themselves. The respondent says that her mother would never have done this if she had not seen the film, but that “she is very happy that she went back.” This is a way of dealing with trauma that can be positive, as avoiding
situations similar to those that caused the trauma generally causes an aggravation of the trauma (Solomon, Gerrity & Muff, 1992). However, trauma victims should never be forced to place themselves in such situations, because that can exacerbate the symptoms (Bendheim Guedalia, 2015, p. 418).
Tenth, film productions can help address the issue of accountability and
responsibility (Morag, 2020, p. 42). This is important in a country like Cambodia, where very few Khmer Rouge officials have been tried in court for their crimes against
humanity, and where the political leadership still includes former Khmer Rouge
members. In interview three, when talking about Enemies of the People, the respondent finds it difficult to accept that Nuon Chea denies any responsibility. The respondent, unable to understand this, says: “I think his karma won’t be good for a long time.” So even though the film attempts to address the issue of responsibility and accountability, it only confuses the respondent, who then turns to her religion (Buddhism) to settle the responsibility issue through the concept of karma. 9
Eleventh, film productions can become a tool against the constant denials and lies of perpetrators (Morag, 2020, p. 25). Films enforce a relation to the past, both on the perpetrator and the spectator. In Enemies of the People, the time sense of “being then” brings the perpetrator back to his past deeds, and ruptures the “everlasting now” that is rooted in denial. The confessions of the low-ranking Khmer Rouge in the film make it more difficult for the Big Perpetrator to deny what happened. Still, the respondent in interview three finds it difficult to accept that Nuon Chea keeps denying any wrongdoing. The filmmaker struggles with this as well; the denial of the perpetrator is a careful
strategy, an ongoing tactical mindset of manipulations.
Twelfth, building further on the previous paragraph, film productions can
reconstruct the time of the Khmer Rouge into a form of resentment. Returning to the past as an act of resentment can break open the “everlasting now” that is caused by denial. In
9In Buddhism, karma refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect. It is an energy created by willful
action: through words, deeds and thoughts. The actions and intent of an individual influence the future of that individual. Good deeds and good intent lead to good karma and favorable rebirths, whereas bad deeds and bad intent lead to bad karma, suffering and unfavorable rebirths (Ebihara, Mortland & Ledgerwood, 1995, p. 79).
the present, the perpetrator denies what happened in the past, and thereby blocks out the past (Morag, 2020, p. 34). Films such as Survive and Enemies of the People puncture the connection between the denial and the now. The respondent in interview three recognizes this when she tells about perpetrator Nuon Chea, who so blatantly denies the realities of the Khmer Rouge years that his story becomes questionable.
Thirteenth, film productions can help perpetrators to open up about their past. Out of fear, many people did things they now regret. Perpetrators can suffer from trauma as well, for example the low-ranking perpetrators in Survive, The Last Reel and Enemies of the People. Moreover, some people regret things they did by accident, for example the ex-pilot in interview two, who is traumatized and full of guilt and remorse because he dropped bombs on a civilian neighborhood by mistake. By watching the scene in The Killing Fields again, about a Cambodian town that was bombed by the Americans by mistake, my respondent hopes to come to terms with the damage he has done. He says about this:
“I hope that it will make my bad memories better. I’m thinking too much. This can’t go on.”
Fourteenth, film productions can help reduce repression of feelings and emotions. Staff at the Bophana Center (personal communication, June 5, 2015) mentioned the inclination of many Cambodians who rarely show emotions in real life, to cry freely during a sad movie. This characteristic can help traumatized people with memories that cannot be appeased by rational thought. In interview one, the respondent says that she cried a lot when she watched the film Survive, also because she saw her mother cry. Psychologists have used this reduced repression of emotions for therapeutic purposes as well, for example in cinematherapy, which is discussed in the next paragraph.
Fifteenth, film productions have been used with healing effects as part of
psychological treatments (Lampropoulos, Kazantzis & Deane, 2004). This is also known as cinematherapy, which is the use of film productions for therapeutic purposes (Sharp, Smith & Cole, 2002). Cinematherapy can help support trauma recovery as it provides a safe distance for a very realistic experience. I have not found any literature on the
suitability of cinematherapy for the Cambodian mental health care system, so in my opinion this is an interesting issue for future research.
Sixteenth, in connection with the previous point, films can enable trauma victims to observe their trauma from the outside. This can either be part of a therapy or a form of self-help. Films have been used in psychotherapy as metaphors and symbols, to expose topics of therapeutic significance (Schulenberg, 2003). Difficult emotions can be expressed with metaphors, for example by identification with a film’s protagonist (Correia & Barbosa, 2018). Despite the evidence that film productions can benefit psychotherapy, it can only be an adjunct to therapy and does not replace it. Schulenberg (2003) advises to be careful with cinematherapy when treating trauma survivors. Given the nature of trauma memories, suggesting war movies may be ill-advised. Therapists should only recommend film productions to trauma survivors after careful assessment and discussion (Schulenberg, 2003). The respondent in interview two wants to view a scene from The Killing Fields again, which is a war movie, so from Schulenberg’s perspective it might perhaps not be advisable.
Seventeenth, for the filmmaker, the process of making the film can have a therapeutic value as well. For instance, this has been the case for Roshane Saidnattar, Thet Sambath and Rithy Panh. In their films, the confrontations with perpetrators are the result of the filmmakers’ attempts to come to terms with their own traumatic past. Since 1989, Rithy Panh has been making films about people who are traumatized. He does this also in order to come to terms with his own trauma (Cazenave, 2018; Hamilton, 2013a, p. 175). Rithy Panh says that his filmmaking is not focused on sadness or happiness, but that he works on memory. He is primarily interested in the ethics of memory, and the restoration of memory as an ethical imperative. With memory he does not mean anything aesthetic, but “real memory, real life” (Hamilton, 2013a, p. 176).
Finally, film productions such as Survive and Enemies of the People may help Cambodian society toward reconciliation (Bophana Center staff, personal
communication, June 5, 2015). The concept of reconciliation presupposes forgiveness (Bockers, Stammel & Knaevelsrud, 2011), but none of my respondents mentioned this.
Kalayjian (2010) sees forgiveness as central to the healing of trauma, although French philosopher Derrida argues that only the victim has the right to forgive. That said, Derrida finds it difficult to imagine how someone can ever forgive something that is unforgivable. It would be irrational (Derrida, 2001, p. 49). Survivors may be able to forgive a perpetrator, but they cannot do that on behalf of others (Derrida, 2001, p. 51). There can also be no such thing as a forced reconciliation. This may be why there is so much moral resentment in Cambodia against the hegemonic politics of forgetting. Rithy Panh and Thet Sambath have been critical about this in their films. Derrida (2001, p. 39) associates reconciliation with a conditional forgiveness, which in his view is an
irresolvable contradiction. The arrest scene of Nuon Chea at the end of the film Enemies of the People is mentioned by the respondent in interview three. Morag (2020, p. 57) sees this scene as moving between resentment and doubtful reconciliation.
Limitations
Of course a research study of this kind and scope has its limitations. I have only been able to interview a limited number of respondents. This means that the sample I have to work with does not represent the entire population from which I selected the sample. At the same time, a limited number of respondents can be a strength as well. With research like this, it is not about the number of respondents, but it is about the depth and richness of data that you get. A limitation of life story interviewing is that the
researcher is never really in control of the interview, because it is an open-ended process (Atkinson, 2011, p. 8). Still, for the current project the strengths of the method outweigh its limitations.
Other limitations are formed by the language barrier and the stigmatization of mental problems in Cambodian society. These factors often make it difficult to talk with people about traumatic experiences. Finding the right words to describe issues related to trauma, and translating these words from or into Khmer is very problematic. Add to this that translations are often inconsistent, which makes it even more difficult for a foreigner like me to talk with Cambodians about mental health issues.
Conclusion
How can film productions help Cambodians deal with their traumatic past? The findings from this study indicate eighteen ways in which film can help. An analysis of the interviews suggests that the main impact of film is that it helps Cambodian people realize that it is not wrong to talk about traumatic experiences. This can be a meaningful step towards healing trauma. The traumatic past has been locked up inside people for a long time, because they thought it was wrong to talk about it. This reveals the painful social stigmatization of mental problems in Cambodia as well.
The findings from this study also suggest that film productions can help
Cambodians to give trauma a place. Film can help reveal trauma symptoms suffered by the survivors; it can make it easier for survivors to narrate their own experiences as victims and testify; and it can help the mourning process. In Cambodia, healing trauma does not only require words that narrate the past, but also confrontations with the dead. The Khmer Rouge eliminated both the word and mourning. By evoking feelings and memories that Cambodian viewers can relate to, a film such as The Missing Picture may be able to bring the word back to life, and help end the never-ending burial that trauma has become.
Moreover, film productions present a possibility of closure, and can help to increase awareness about trauma and the intergenerational dimension of this in
Cambodia. Film can also help evoke feelings and memories that a traumatized viewer can relate to. Film productions can help survivors come to terms with the past through the encounter with the perpetrator, for instance in the films Survive and Enemies of the People. Film productions can help address the issue of accountability and responsibility, and they can become a tool against the constant denials and lies of perpetrators. In addition to this, film productions can inspire survivors to deal with trauma in ways they did not think of before. And in the Cambodian context, films can reconstruct the time of the Khmer Rouge into a form of resentment. Returning to the past as an act of resentment can break open the “everlasting now” that is caused by denial. Films can puncture the
