Screening the Cold War in Cambodia: The Films of Norodom Sihanouk and Rithy Panh

Abstract

This chapter explores the films of Norodom Sihanouk and Rithy Panh and examines how they render Cambodia’s complex and tumultuous history intensified by Cold War geopolitics. How do their films articulate, negotiate, and contest the uncertainties and aspirations of the Cambodian people? What kind of future, or futures, do their films project for Cambodia? To what extent did—or does—the Cold War shape or determine the two filmmakers’ works, and in what ways do they differ? Ultimately, this chapter provides a comparative approach to understanding the post-colonial cinematic milieu of Cambodia and the role of these two prominent filmmakers in constructing, performing, and interrogating the Cambodian nation and re-imagining the Cold War in Cambodian past, present, and future.