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| UNAFF Award |
Congratulations to
Bradley Cox,
Rich Garella,
Jeffrey Saunders
and the entire team!
Showing posts with label Brad Cox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brad Cox. Show all posts
Friday, November 05, 2010
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Cambodia bans film about trade union leader Chea Vichea
Wed Jun 9, 2010
PHNOM PENH
PHNOM PENH
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The Cambodian government has banned a documentary about the unsolved 2004 assassination of influential trade union leader Chea Vichea, according to the film's U.S. director Bradley Cox.
Cox said the government has blocked any screenings of "Who Killed Chea Vichea?" over the past month -- the first banning of a politically charged film since the 1980s in Cambodia which is widely criticized for restrictions on political freedoms.
The movie had its European premiere at the Cannes independent film festival last month and has been put by Amnesty International's on its list of the Top Ten Movies That Matter.
Cox said trade unionists tried to show the movie on May 10 at the spot where Vichea was killed to mark International Labor Day but police raided the location, leading to a declaration by the government, led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, that the movie was an illegal import.
"This is what governments do when they don't want their own people to know the facts and when they can't afford to show weakness, even for an instant," said Rich Garella, one of the producers of the Loud Mouth Film movie, and a former managing editor of The Cambodia Daily.
"I would encourage Cambodian government officials to practice what they preach," said Cox in a statement.
Cambodian Information Minister and the top government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said he was not fully aware of the reasons for the ban but in part it was because the documentary intended to blame his government of Vichea's murder.
"It might have been that the documentary intends to accuse the government of murder," Khieu Kanharith told Reuters.
The 55-minute documentary asks the question who killed Chea Vichea but does not give the answer. It does, however, look at corruption within the impoverished Southeast Asian country.
The banning of the film comes as the ruling Cambodian People's Party is accused by rights groups and opposition lawmakers of abusing its parliamentary majority to push through laws that limit freedom of expression.
Cambodia passed legislation last year tightening defamation laws and outlawing public protests by more than 200 people which donors said were moves to stifle criticism of the ruling party.
Vichea, the leader of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia with close links to the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, was shot in the head and chest in the morning of January 22, 2004, at a newspaper kiosk in the capital Phnom Penh.
Cox was on the scene with his camera just moments after the shooting and conducted his own investigation over the next five years.
Two men were arrested days within days and sentenced to 20 years in prison each but in 2008 Cambodian authorities reopened the case and the two men were provisionally released by the Supreme Court in January 2009.
(Writing by Belinda Goldsmith in Sydney and Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh, Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
Cox said the government has blocked any screenings of "Who Killed Chea Vichea?" over the past month -- the first banning of a politically charged film since the 1980s in Cambodia which is widely criticized for restrictions on political freedoms.
The movie had its European premiere at the Cannes independent film festival last month and has been put by Amnesty International's on its list of the Top Ten Movies That Matter.
Cox said trade unionists tried to show the movie on May 10 at the spot where Vichea was killed to mark International Labor Day but police raided the location, leading to a declaration by the government, led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, that the movie was an illegal import.
"This is what governments do when they don't want their own people to know the facts and when they can't afford to show weakness, even for an instant," said Rich Garella, one of the producers of the Loud Mouth Film movie, and a former managing editor of The Cambodia Daily.
"I would encourage Cambodian government officials to practice what they preach," said Cox in a statement.
Cambodian Information Minister and the top government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said he was not fully aware of the reasons for the ban but in part it was because the documentary intended to blame his government of Vichea's murder.
"It might have been that the documentary intends to accuse the government of murder," Khieu Kanharith told Reuters.
The 55-minute documentary asks the question who killed Chea Vichea but does not give the answer. It does, however, look at corruption within the impoverished Southeast Asian country.
The banning of the film comes as the ruling Cambodian People's Party is accused by rights groups and opposition lawmakers of abusing its parliamentary majority to push through laws that limit freedom of expression.
Cambodia passed legislation last year tightening defamation laws and outlawing public protests by more than 200 people which donors said were moves to stifle criticism of the ruling party.
Vichea, the leader of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia with close links to the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, was shot in the head and chest in the morning of January 22, 2004, at a newspaper kiosk in the capital Phnom Penh.
Cox was on the scene with his camera just moments after the shooting and conducted his own investigation over the next five years.
Two men were arrested days within days and sentenced to 20 years in prison each but in 2008 Cambodian authorities reopened the case and the two men were provisionally released by the Supreme Court in January 2009.
(Writing by Belinda Goldsmith in Sydney and Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh, Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
Friday, April 30, 2010
Who Was Chea Vichea and Why Does He Matter? Ask Filmmaker Bradley Cox
Chea Vichea's declaration
April 29, 2010
Jim Luce
Huffington Post
In my own special screening, director Bradley Cox recently showed me his 55-minute film Who Killed Chea Vichea? in his office in Manhattan. Bradley is now in Southeast Asia. Chea Vichea was the president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) until his assassination on Chinese New Year in January 2004. Vichea was shot in the head and chest early in the morning while reading a newspaper at a kiosk in Phnom Penh.
I had interviewed Cambodian Parliament Member Mu Sochua -- the Cory Aquino or Aung San Suu Kyi of Cambodia, for The Huffington Post in March before she returned to Phnom Penh (story). She had told me, "The day I joined the opposition party was the day the leader of the workers' movement -- Chea Vichea -- was assassinated. He was the founder of the opposition in Cambodia."
Chea Vichea was assassinated in broad daylight. Brad Cox arrived just minutes after he was gunned down, and his footage makes for some of the most powerful moments of the film.
Local police struggle to maintain order as journalists and frenzied onlookers surrounded the fallen union leader, his blood spilled over a copy of that day's newspaper. Images from the funeral that followed of Buddhist priests crying as they watch the procession pass are haunting.
The government arrested two men and imprisoned them for their supposed crime. They were both soon judged innocent. The government did not like that judicial decision and the judge was immediately removed from his position at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. His decision to drop charges was subsequently overturned in June 2004.
The Cambodian union leader Chea Vichea in 2003, one year before he was killed.
From "Who Killed Chea Vichea? Copyright 2009 Loud Mouth Films.
The two men were found guilty after a trial where no witnesses testified against the accused and no forensic evidence was brought to court. Both individuals were sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $5,000 compensation each to the family of the victim. Vichea's family turned down the compensation, stating that they did not believe the two convicted were the real murderers.
The documentary of his life and death, Who Killed Chea Vichea?, premiered March 27 at the Frederick Film Festival in Maryland. The film, released by Loud Mouth Films in Philadelphia and Bangkok, is a gripping account of a corrupt government's campaign to hold onto power at any cost, and the quiet resistance of a people facing overwhelming odds. Filmed over five years, and following events as they happened, Who Killed Chea Vichea? was produced by Rich Garella and Jeffrey Saunders with an original score by Gil Talmi.
I interviewed film producer Rich Garella about their deeply moving film:
Monks precede dignitaries in funeral march for assassinated union leader Chea Vichea.
The story continues to be told. This week, The Phnom Penh Post published Delving Into An Old Murder, by James O'Toole and Meas Sokchea:
Evidence on display during police press conference.
The film's director Brad Cox is perhaps best suited to answer the question, Who was Chea Vichea and why does he matter? When I met with Brad in New York, he told me:
Director Bradley Cox with producers Jeffrey Saunders and Rich Garella.
From "Who Killed Chea Vichea? Copyright 2009 Loud Mouth Films.
Director Bradley Cox has lived in Cambodia for almost five years. He captured the story of Chea Vichea's murder as it unfolded on the streets and in the courtrooms of Cambodia. He previously made the documentary Cambodia: Anatomy of an Election, was a co-founder of Bhutan's first film school, has worked as a screenwriter and director in Los Angeles and has won numerous film festival awards.
Producer Rich Garella lived in Cambodia for most of 1995 - 2003. He was managing editor of The Cambodia Daily, and later worked as press secretary for Cambodia's main opposition party. He co-wrote and produced Polygraph for MoveOn.org's Bush in 30 Seconds project in 2004; the ad was broadcast nationally. With Eric Pape, he wrote A Tragedy of No Importance, about the 1997 grenade attack against the Cambodian opposition.
Producer Jeffrey Saunders is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and founder of CinemaCapital, an independent production and distribution company based in New York City. His films have been selected at international festivals including the Berlin Film Festival, IDFA, SWSX and Thessaloniki, and acquired by broadcasters including Sundance, ARTE, TF1, ZDF and SBS. His feature film Goal Dreams was selected as one of the top ten "Movies that Matter" by Amnesty International in 2006.
I had interviewed Cambodian Parliament Member Mu Sochua -- the Cory Aquino or Aung San Suu Kyi of Cambodia, for The Huffington Post in March before she returned to Phnom Penh (story). She had told me, "The day I joined the opposition party was the day the leader of the workers' movement -- Chea Vichea -- was assassinated. He was the founder of the opposition in Cambodia."
Chea Vichea was assassinated in broad daylight. Brad Cox arrived just minutes after he was gunned down, and his footage makes for some of the most powerful moments of the film.Local police struggle to maintain order as journalists and frenzied onlookers surrounded the fallen union leader, his blood spilled over a copy of that day's newspaper. Images from the funeral that followed of Buddhist priests crying as they watch the procession pass are haunting.
The government arrested two men and imprisoned them for their supposed crime. They were both soon judged innocent. The government did not like that judicial decision and the judge was immediately removed from his position at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. His decision to drop charges was subsequently overturned in June 2004.
The Cambodian union leader Chea Vichea in 2003, one year before he was killed.From "Who Killed Chea Vichea? Copyright 2009 Loud Mouth Films.
The two men were found guilty after a trial where no witnesses testified against the accused and no forensic evidence was brought to court. Both individuals were sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $5,000 compensation each to the family of the victim. Vichea's family turned down the compensation, stating that they did not believe the two convicted were the real murderers.
The documentary of his life and death, Who Killed Chea Vichea?, premiered March 27 at the Frederick Film Festival in Maryland. The film, released by Loud Mouth Films in Philadelphia and Bangkok, is a gripping account of a corrupt government's campaign to hold onto power at any cost, and the quiet resistance of a people facing overwhelming odds. Filmed over five years, and following events as they happened, Who Killed Chea Vichea? was produced by Rich Garella and Jeffrey Saunders with an original score by Gil Talmi.
I interviewed film producer Rich Garella about their deeply moving film:
To me the core of this movie is that it unmasks a dictatorship. Unlike Burma, for example, Cambodia enjoys a lot of foreign aid from Western countries, who are basically being played against China by the Cambodian regime.
The tacit arrangement is that the Western donors agree to play along with the pretense that Cambodia is a 'fledgling democracy' and that Cambodia is constantly making incremental progress on human rights, corruption reduction, election quality and so forth -- even though there is never any detectable change for the better in these areas.
And if they don't play along, and actually demand some accountability, well, Cambodia can just get the same amount of aid from China, no strings attached.
It can also be viewed as a hostage situation, where (Cambodian Prime Minister) Hun Sen says to the West: Don't demand anything that threatens my power or I can make Cambodia into Burma II, and you don't want that. You don't want another intractable problem with a China-backed surrogate and you don't want the poor people of Cambodia to suffer even more than they do.
So Who Killed Chea Vichea? takes one example, out of many, to show that the Cambodian regime really has no limits on its ability to carry out any kind of atrocity, obscuring it only with the flimsiest veil of legitimacy. It's one of the few times, and probably the only time in the case of Cambodia, where a film follows a single emblematic event like this from start to finish, as it unfolds. And thereby gives viewers outside the country a front-row seat to the actual mechanics of this kind of soft dictatorship.
By focusing on a single key case we bring the story down to the human level, which is necessary because the power that the Cambodian regime wields works on the human level -- it's personal fear that limits what Cambodian people can do. They know that the regime has the power of life and death over each and every one of them. This is what the regime intends to illustrate by killing such a well-known and loved person as Chea Vichea: We can kill anyone, at any time, with complete impunity, whether our Western sponsors like it or not... so watch your step.
One aspect of this that we hope to reveal to viewers in these sponsoring countries, including the U.S., is that the apparent incompetence of the authorities in covering their tracks actually serves an important function for them. They don't actually want the people of Cambodia to think anything other than that the authorities had Vichea killed. They need the people to know that it was a political assassination that came from the top, or it wouldn't serve its purpose.
The foreign viewers should realize that the purpose of the cover-up (the framing of the two suspects) is a show that is staged only for the benefit the foreigners at home -- and it's impossible for anyone in Cambodia, including the diplomats from those foreign countries -- not to know the truth.
So in a way, we hope that the film can be a kind of key for viewers, that having seen this, they can have a better understanding not only of the situation in Cambodia but that it will help them interpret events in other countries that receive aid or trade benefits.
And of course, we tried to provide it in a way that is dramatic on a human level, to make it a true investigative thriller that pulls them into an unfamiliar world and gives them, as I mentioned, a front-row seat.
Monks precede dignitaries in funeral march for assassinated union leader Chea Vichea.From "Who Killed Chea Vichea? Copyright 2009 Loud Mouth Films.
The story continues to be told. This week, The Phnom Penh Post published Delving Into An Old Murder, by James O'Toole and Meas Sokchea:
Vichea spent the morning playing with his daughter, studying his Khmer-English dictionary and plucking his moustache before deciding to leave his Phnom Penh home and pick up a copy of the day's newspaper.
"I watched him from the balcony as he left," Chea Vichea's wife, Chea Kimny, tells director Bradley Cox. "I got up and went to the kitchen. Suddenly, I felt like something kicked me in the chest."
Cox travelled to Cambodia to cover the contentious 2003 elections, and stayed to pursue the story of Chea Vichea's murder. In a one-hour film screened for the Post on Wednesday, he draws on interviews with witnesses and public figures to document the investigation of what has become one of the Kingdom's most infamous political killings in recent years.
"This is not a tale - it is a true story," Chea Mony said. "This film just wants to inform other countries, particularly free, democratic countries, that we can have no confidence in the Cambodian justice system."
In its early moments, Who Killed Chea Vichea? contains footage from an interview with its titular figure. With his slight build and nasal voice, he does not make for an intimidating presence, but his resolve is clear as he describes the history of death threats against him.
"I think they want to kill me because of my experience in the past," Chea Vichea says, adding: "I'm not afraid. If I'm afraid, it's like I die."
Evidence on display during police press conference.From "Who Killed Chea Vichea? Copyright 2009 Loud Mouth Films.
The film's director Brad Cox is perhaps best suited to answer the question, Who was Chea Vichea and why does he matter? When I met with Brad in New York, he told me:
"Hero" is perhaps the most overused word in the English language, and to be honest, I don't know if I ever met an honest-to-goodness hero in the flesh until I met Chea Vichea.The Free Trade Union of which Chea Vichea was president traditionally holds a big march on Labor Day -- May 1 -- that attracts thousands of people. They may try to have a public screening of the film this May 1 in the park in Phnom Penh across from where Vichea was killed. If so, it would be a landmark event in Cambodia. I believe the authorities will sadly intervene.
Imagine a country where you can be arrested for simply displeasing the powers that be. Imagine a country where standing up for your rights can get you killed. This is Cambodia. To get by, most people keep their heads down and their mouths shut. Vichea did the opposite.
He stood up for the hundreds of thousands of garment workers who wanted nothing more than to be treated fairly and to receive a living wage. For his troubles, he was beaten, threatened and arrested countless times.
And when his life was threatened and the police urged him to leave the country, he refused to be intimidated. He stood his ground, because as he told me "If I leave, who will look after the people?"
Heroes are people who go forward despite being fully aware of the dangers that lie ahead. In this regard, Chea Vichea was the real deal.
Director Bradley Cox with producers Jeffrey Saunders and Rich Garella.From "Who Killed Chea Vichea? Copyright 2009 Loud Mouth Films.
Director Bradley Cox has lived in Cambodia for almost five years. He captured the story of Chea Vichea's murder as it unfolded on the streets and in the courtrooms of Cambodia. He previously made the documentary Cambodia: Anatomy of an Election, was a co-founder of Bhutan's first film school, has worked as a screenwriter and director in Los Angeles and has won numerous film festival awards.
Producer Rich Garella lived in Cambodia for most of 1995 - 2003. He was managing editor of The Cambodia Daily, and later worked as press secretary for Cambodia's main opposition party. He co-wrote and produced Polygraph for MoveOn.org's Bush in 30 Seconds project in 2004; the ad was broadcast nationally. With Eric Pape, he wrote A Tragedy of No Importance, about the 1997 grenade attack against the Cambodian opposition.
Producer Jeffrey Saunders is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and founder of CinemaCapital, an independent production and distribution company based in New York City. His films have been selected at international festivals including the Berlin Film Festival, IDFA, SWSX and Thessaloniki, and acquired by broadcasters including Sundance, ARTE, TF1, ZDF and SBS. His feature film Goal Dreams was selected as one of the top ten "Movies that Matter" by Amnesty International in 2006.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Group to screen Chea Vichea film
A screenshot from the documentary Who Killed Chea Vichea? shows the union leader moments after he was shot dead on Street 51 and Sihanouk Boulevard. (Image courtesy of Bradley Cox)Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post
Unionists propose screening the documentary near the site of the labour leader’s 2004 murder
UNIONISTS plan to mark the May 1 Labour Day holiday by screening a documentary that explores the infamous unsolved murder of leader Chea Vichea near the spot where he was gunned down, union officials said Tuesday.
Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), said he is planning to show the film, titled Who Killed Chea Vichea?, on Saturday in an attempt to pressure authorities, who critics say have dragged their heels in finding the perpetrators of the January 2004 slaying.
“We want this case to be investigated,” Rong Chhun said. The government “should not allow this case to go unresolved”.
Chea Vichea’s family believes the murder was political, and that he was targeted because he was a prominent union leader. Two men were arrested and convicted after his death, but
Chea Vichea’s family has insisted they are not guilty.
Screening the film could prove controversial. Organisers plan to show it next to the gates of Wat Lanka, near the street corner where Chea Vichea was shot.
Filmmaker Bradley Cox said that rather than focusing on who pulled the trigger, the documentary seeks to ask the question of who ordered the murder.
“Based on the evidence and reasonable deduction, I think the movie goes a long way in answering this,” he said last week via email.
Chea Mony, who succeeded his murdered brother as leader of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said organisers hope the film will shine a light on the government’s failure to solve the case.
“Many well-known persons were killed, but the killers have never been arrested,” said Chea Mony, who urged authorities to allow organisers to screen the film. “The government must not prohibit the showing of this film because people have suffered greatly from this murder.”
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said authorities would not stop anyone from showing the film for political reasons.
However, he said organisers must obtain permission from Phnom Penh municipal officials first because the screening will be in public.
“For [the government], it is no problem, but normally if you are showing it in a public spot, you must ask permission from the authorities,” Khieu Kanharith said.
“If we cannot find [the killers], let them criticise us. It doesn’t matter.”
Union organisers said they have sent an official request to City Hall asking for permission to show the film.
Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema could not be reached for comment.
UNIONISTS plan to mark the May 1 Labour Day holiday by screening a documentary that explores the infamous unsolved murder of leader Chea Vichea near the spot where he was gunned down, union officials said Tuesday.
Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), said he is planning to show the film, titled Who Killed Chea Vichea?, on Saturday in an attempt to pressure authorities, who critics say have dragged their heels in finding the perpetrators of the January 2004 slaying.
“We want this case to be investigated,” Rong Chhun said. The government “should not allow this case to go unresolved”.
Chea Vichea’s family believes the murder was political, and that he was targeted because he was a prominent union leader. Two men were arrested and convicted after his death, but
Chea Vichea’s family has insisted they are not guilty.
Screening the film could prove controversial. Organisers plan to show it next to the gates of Wat Lanka, near the street corner where Chea Vichea was shot.
Filmmaker Bradley Cox said that rather than focusing on who pulled the trigger, the documentary seeks to ask the question of who ordered the murder.
“Based on the evidence and reasonable deduction, I think the movie goes a long way in answering this,” he said last week via email.
Chea Mony, who succeeded his murdered brother as leader of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said organisers hope the film will shine a light on the government’s failure to solve the case.
“Many well-known persons were killed, but the killers have never been arrested,” said Chea Mony, who urged authorities to allow organisers to screen the film. “The government must not prohibit the showing of this film because people have suffered greatly from this murder.”
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said authorities would not stop anyone from showing the film for political reasons.
However, he said organisers must obtain permission from Phnom Penh municipal officials first because the screening will be in public.
“For [the government], it is no problem, but normally if you are showing it in a public spot, you must ask permission from the authorities,” Khieu Kanharith said.
“If we cannot find [the killers], let them criticise us. It doesn’t matter.”
Union organisers said they have sent an official request to City Hall asking for permission to show the film.
Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema could not be reached for comment.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Delving into an old murder
A photo in the home of Chea Mony shows the body of his brother, Chea Vichea, a labour union leader, after he was shot and killed at a newsstand on Street 51. (Photo by: Tracey Shelton)Thursday, 22 April 2010
James O’toole and Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post
Documentary seeks answers about the killing of union leader Chea Vichea.
“I watched him from the balcony as he left,” Chea Vichea’s wife, Chea Kimny, tells director Bradley Cox. “I got up and went to the kitchen. Suddenly, I felt like something kicked me in the chest.”
Cox arrived at the newsstand outside Chamkarmon district’s Wat Lanka just minutes after Chea Vichea was gunned down on January 22, 2004, and his footage from the scene makes for some of the most powerful moments of his new documentary, Who Killed Chea Vichea? Local police struggle to maintain order as journalists and frenzied onlookers surround the fallen labour leader, his blood spilled over a copy of that day’s Koh Santepheap newspaper.
Cox travelled to Cambodia to cover the contentious 2003 elections, and stayed to pursue the story of Chea Vichea’s murder. In a one-hour film screened for the Post on Wednesday, he draws on interviews with witnesses and public figures to document the investigation of what has become one of the Kingdom’s most infamous political killings in recent years.
As outrage mounted in the days following Chea Vichea’s death, police arrested two men – Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun – and charged them with the killing. They were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison at a 2005 trial that was widely derided for failing to meet international standards.
Chea Vichea’s family has insisted since the arrest of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun that the pair are not responsible for the crime, a claim that came closer to vindication last year when the Supreme Court ordered their release after almost five years in prison, pending a new trial.
Interviews with the men’s friends and relatives in the documentary corroborate their claims that they were nowhere near the crime scene at the time of the murder.
Chea Mony, who has taken his older brother’s place as president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, threatened earlier this year to organise a strike if the government did not make progress in the case. He maintains that Chea Vichea was murdered because of his status as a union leader, and expressed doubt that the truth of what happened will ever come to light.
“I think there is no chance to find justice for Chea Vichea under the current government – I have no belief at all,” Chea Mony said Wednesday. “Is it the government’s will to find the killers, or is a powerful person involved in this murder?”
Although Chea Mony had not yet seen the film himself – Cox says plans for international distribution are still in development – he said relatives in the US had told him it presented a “frightful” depiction of Cambodian politics.
“This is not a tale – it is a true story,” Chea Mony said. “This film just wants to inform other countries, particularly free, democratic countries, that we can have no confidence in the Cambodian justice system.”
In August, the Appeal Court announced a new investigation in Chea Vichea’s case and said that Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun are to remain free until a verdict is handed down. Appeal Court deputy president Choun Sunleng said Wednesday that investigation duties have been dispatched to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Court President Chiv Keng said that an investigation is in progress, but declined to comment further.
Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Chea Mony was entitled to express his views on the case, though he noted that the investigation of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun is ongoing.
“If he does not believe [the investigation], it’s up to him,” Khieu Sopheak said of Chea Mony. “Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun’s release is temporary – it is not final.”
Fatal consequences
Though the website for Who Killed Chea Vichea? touts the film as “a highly charged murder mystery”, Cox said viewers expecting a straightforward whodunnit story will be disappointed.
“In making the movie, I was never particularly interested in finding out who actually pulled the trigger,” Cox wrote in an email on Wednesday.
“I was much more interested in who was behind the murder and who gave the OK. Based on the evidence and reasonable deduction, I think the movie goes a long way in answering this.”
Though the film makes no direct accusations about Chea Vichea’s death, it paints a damning picture of law enforcement under Prime Minister Hun Sen, portraying former national police chief Hok Lundy and former municipal police chief Heng Pov as the government’s ruthless enforcers.
“When they needed a job done, Hok Lundy would call men like Heng Pov to a meeting,” one anonymous former police official tells Cox. The man says he committed “many” murders on Heng Pov’s orders, and adds: “Afterwards, we’d feed the corpse to the crocodiles.”
An anonymous former government official tells Cox that the judiciary is controlled in similarly hierarchical fashion.
“There isn’t a single judge who is independent.... If a judge makes a decision on his own, the consequences could be fatal,” the official says.
In footage from a press conference held shortly after Chea Vichea’s murder, Heng Pov briefs reporters on the status of the investigation, identifying the owner of the Wat Lanka newsstand as the only witness in the case before catching himself and hastily ordering reporters not to write about her.
“If you want to help Chea Vichea, don’t mention the news seller,” Heng Pov says.
That woman, Va Sothy, has since stated publicly that Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun look nothing like the two men she saw commit the murder. She now lives in the United States after being granted asylum – Chea Vichea’s wife and family have successfully sought asylum in Finland – and she tells Cox that the presence of a man on a mobile phone near the crime scene – suspected by onlookers to be an undercover police officer – suggested to her official involvement.
“I heard him say, ‘The work is done,’” Va Sothy says.
Unbowed by threats
Cox said he hopes the film, which premiered last month in the US at the Frederick Film Festival in Maryland, will be broadcast in the US and other countries later this year. Considering its politically charged content, he was not optimistic that the Cambodian government would allow him to distribute the film here, though he said he hopes residents of the Kingdom eventually have access to it.
In its early moments, Who Killed Chea Vichea? contains footage from an interview with its titular figure. With his slight build and nasal voice, he does not make for an intimidating presence, but his resolve is clear as he describes the history of death threats against him.
“I think they want to kill me because of my experience in the past,” Chea Vichea says, adding: “I’m not afraid. If I’m afraid, it’s like I die.”
I was much more interested in who was behind the murder and who gave the ok.CHEA Vichea spent the morning playing with his daughter, studying his Khmer-English dictionary and plucking his moustache before deciding to leave his Phnom Penh home and pick up a copy of the day’s newspaper.
“I watched him from the balcony as he left,” Chea Vichea’s wife, Chea Kimny, tells director Bradley Cox. “I got up and went to the kitchen. Suddenly, I felt like something kicked me in the chest.”
Cox arrived at the newsstand outside Chamkarmon district’s Wat Lanka just minutes after Chea Vichea was gunned down on January 22, 2004, and his footage from the scene makes for some of the most powerful moments of his new documentary, Who Killed Chea Vichea? Local police struggle to maintain order as journalists and frenzied onlookers surround the fallen labour leader, his blood spilled over a copy of that day’s Koh Santepheap newspaper.
Cox travelled to Cambodia to cover the contentious 2003 elections, and stayed to pursue the story of Chea Vichea’s murder. In a one-hour film screened for the Post on Wednesday, he draws on interviews with witnesses and public figures to document the investigation of what has become one of the Kingdom’s most infamous political killings in recent years.
As outrage mounted in the days following Chea Vichea’s death, police arrested two men – Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun – and charged them with the killing. They were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison at a 2005 trial that was widely derided for failing to meet international standards.
Chea Vichea’s family has insisted since the arrest of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun that the pair are not responsible for the crime, a claim that came closer to vindication last year when the Supreme Court ordered their release after almost five years in prison, pending a new trial.
Interviews with the men’s friends and relatives in the documentary corroborate their claims that they were nowhere near the crime scene at the time of the murder.
Chea Mony, who has taken his older brother’s place as president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, threatened earlier this year to organise a strike if the government did not make progress in the case. He maintains that Chea Vichea was murdered because of his status as a union leader, and expressed doubt that the truth of what happened will ever come to light.
“I think there is no chance to find justice for Chea Vichea under the current government – I have no belief at all,” Chea Mony said Wednesday. “Is it the government’s will to find the killers, or is a powerful person involved in this murder?”
Although Chea Mony had not yet seen the film himself – Cox says plans for international distribution are still in development – he said relatives in the US had told him it presented a “frightful” depiction of Cambodian politics.
“This is not a tale – it is a true story,” Chea Mony said. “This film just wants to inform other countries, particularly free, democratic countries, that we can have no confidence in the Cambodian justice system.”
In August, the Appeal Court announced a new investigation in Chea Vichea’s case and said that Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun are to remain free until a verdict is handed down. Appeal Court deputy president Choun Sunleng said Wednesday that investigation duties have been dispatched to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Court President Chiv Keng said that an investigation is in progress, but declined to comment further.
Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Chea Mony was entitled to express his views on the case, though he noted that the investigation of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun is ongoing.
“If he does not believe [the investigation], it’s up to him,” Khieu Sopheak said of Chea Mony. “Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun’s release is temporary – it is not final.”
Fatal consequences
Though the website for Who Killed Chea Vichea? touts the film as “a highly charged murder mystery”, Cox said viewers expecting a straightforward whodunnit story will be disappointed.
“In making the movie, I was never particularly interested in finding out who actually pulled the trigger,” Cox wrote in an email on Wednesday.
“I was much more interested in who was behind the murder and who gave the OK. Based on the evidence and reasonable deduction, I think the movie goes a long way in answering this.”
Though the film makes no direct accusations about Chea Vichea’s death, it paints a damning picture of law enforcement under Prime Minister Hun Sen, portraying former national police chief Hok Lundy and former municipal police chief Heng Pov as the government’s ruthless enforcers.
“When they needed a job done, Hok Lundy would call men like Heng Pov to a meeting,” one anonymous former police official tells Cox. The man says he committed “many” murders on Heng Pov’s orders, and adds: “Afterwards, we’d feed the corpse to the crocodiles.”
An anonymous former government official tells Cox that the judiciary is controlled in similarly hierarchical fashion.
“There isn’t a single judge who is independent.... If a judge makes a decision on his own, the consequences could be fatal,” the official says.
In footage from a press conference held shortly after Chea Vichea’s murder, Heng Pov briefs reporters on the status of the investigation, identifying the owner of the Wat Lanka newsstand as the only witness in the case before catching himself and hastily ordering reporters not to write about her.
“If you want to help Chea Vichea, don’t mention the news seller,” Heng Pov says.
That woman, Va Sothy, has since stated publicly that Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun look nothing like the two men she saw commit the murder. She now lives in the United States after being granted asylum – Chea Vichea’s wife and family have successfully sought asylum in Finland – and she tells Cox that the presence of a man on a mobile phone near the crime scene – suspected by onlookers to be an undercover police officer – suggested to her official involvement.
“I heard him say, ‘The work is done,’” Va Sothy says.
Unbowed by threats
Cox said he hopes the film, which premiered last month in the US at the Frederick Film Festival in Maryland, will be broadcast in the US and other countries later this year. Considering its politically charged content, he was not optimistic that the Cambodian government would allow him to distribute the film here, though he said he hopes residents of the Kingdom eventually have access to it.
In its early moments, Who Killed Chea Vichea? contains footage from an interview with its titular figure. With his slight build and nasal voice, he does not make for an intimidating presence, but his resolve is clear as he describes the history of death threats against him.
“I think they want to kill me because of my experience in the past,” Chea Vichea says, adding: “I’m not afraid. If I’m afraid, it’s like I die.”
Monday, April 12, 2010
"Who killed Chea Vichea?" officially selected for Cannes Independent Film Festival
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Originally posted on Theary Seng's BLOG
WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA?
An award-winning documentary film
Directed by Bradley Cox, produced by Rich Garella
An award-winning documentary film
Directed by Bradley Cox, produced by Rich Garella
.............
Thursday, March 25 P.M.I just watched the final version of Who Killed Chea Vichea? - a heart-and-soul, labor of love documentary film about the labor activist who was gunned down in broad daylight; the government wanted to send a message.
I watched this under-60 minute film, slated for PBS in the United States, with its brilliant, passionate, self-less director Bradley Cox at his makeshift office at the prime real estate of Columbus Circle of New York City. He had dedicated 5 years of his life, with absolutely no income, to make this story realized.
It's a brilliant, excellent, high-quality film which will win every award... I would not be surprised!
I had watched Plastic Killers, the in-production version of this very polished, highly professional Who Killed Chea Vichea?, when it was introduced in Cambodia and quickly, effectively confiscated by the police a year or so ago. Whereas Plastic Killers' values lie in the intense, probing, telling detailed information for an audience who already know Cambodia, this Who Killed Chea Vichea? is altogether a different film and strikes the perfect balance of information and context to absorb the general audience who may not know anything about Chea Vichea, or for that matter, Cambodia.
It's a must-see film for everyone !!!!!
Theary Seng with director Bradley Cox of "Who Killed Chea Vichea?" at Matt's Grill after a private screening of this brilliant labor of love!! New York City, 25 March 2010.
I am very much looking forward to the private screening with director Bradley Cox later this afternoon here in Manhattan.
This is a very brave film about a very brave person in a very brave movement by a very brave director and very brave producer!
I was honored to count Chea Vichea a good friend since 1995 upon my first return to Cambodia. We continued working (more accurately, 'volunteering') together as the labor movement took roots in 1997 with the mushrooming of the garment factories as a result of President Clinton's bestowing Most Favored Nation status to Cambodia.
In January 2004, I remember nonchalantly asking the driver of the law firm tasked to pick me up from the airport, "So, what's new here?"
"They killed Chea Vichea." I felt like lightning had struck me dead; it was not an answer I expected upon my move back to live in Cambodia. The assassination which occurred in broad daylight at a very busy intersection in the city center took place while I was in the air. My law firm warned me not to participate in any social/political movements, particularly not to take part in the funeral procession; I attended anyway, but stayed on the outskirts of the thousands-strong crowd, left to my own thoughts, floating about and in and out in a daze.
BRAVO! BRAVO! to you, Brad and Rich, for making this film !!
_________________
Theary C. SENG
New York City
I watched this under-60 minute film, slated for PBS in the United States, with its brilliant, passionate, self-less director Bradley Cox at his makeshift office at the prime real estate of Columbus Circle of New York City. He had dedicated 5 years of his life, with absolutely no income, to make this story realized.
It's a brilliant, excellent, high-quality film which will win every award... I would not be surprised!
I had watched Plastic Killers, the in-production version of this very polished, highly professional Who Killed Chea Vichea?, when it was introduced in Cambodia and quickly, effectively confiscated by the police a year or so ago. Whereas Plastic Killers' values lie in the intense, probing, telling detailed information for an audience who already know Cambodia, this Who Killed Chea Vichea? is altogether a different film and strikes the perfect balance of information and context to absorb the general audience who may not know anything about Chea Vichea, or for that matter, Cambodia.
It's a must-see film for everyone !!!!!
Theary Seng with director Bradley Cox of "Who Killed Chea Vichea?" at Matt's Grill after a private screening of this brilliant labor of love!! New York City, 25 March 2010..............
Thursday, March 25 A.M.I am very much looking forward to the private screening with director Bradley Cox later this afternoon here in Manhattan.
This is a very brave film about a very brave person in a very brave movement by a very brave director and very brave producer!
I was honored to count Chea Vichea a good friend since 1995 upon my first return to Cambodia. We continued working (more accurately, 'volunteering') together as the labor movement took roots in 1997 with the mushrooming of the garment factories as a result of President Clinton's bestowing Most Favored Nation status to Cambodia.
In January 2004, I remember nonchalantly asking the driver of the law firm tasked to pick me up from the airport, "So, what's new here?"
"They killed Chea Vichea." I felt like lightning had struck me dead; it was not an answer I expected upon my move back to live in Cambodia. The assassination which occurred in broad daylight at a very busy intersection in the city center took place while I was in the air. My law firm warned me not to participate in any social/political movements, particularly not to take part in the funeral procession; I attended anyway, but stayed on the outskirts of the thousands-strong crowd, left to my own thoughts, floating about and in and out in a daze.
BRAVO! BRAVO! to you, Brad and Rich, for making this film !!
_________________
Theary C. SENG
New York City
Friday, August 21, 2009
UN appeals for charges to be dropped against Cambodian accused
Born Samnang (L) and Sok Sam Oeun (R)August 21, 2009
ABC Radio Australia
The United Nations has called for charges to be dropped against two Cambodian men accused of killing trade union leader Chea Vichea in 2004. The men spent years in jail, but campaigning by Cambodian and international human rights groups who believe they are scapegoats, led to them being released on bail in January. Now, the Appeal Court has ordered that the case be re-investigated.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Brad Cox, director the documentary, 'Who Killed Chea Vichea?'
COX: I agree 100 per cent [that charges should be dropped against Born Samnang and Sok Sam Ouen]. For the last five years they've tried to build the case; they've never produced any credible evidence and so its a long time coming. These guys should have been never even arrested in the first place.
COCHRANE: And why were they arrested?
COX: Ah, well there're a lot of theories of why they were arrested. There was a lot of international pressure on the government and the police to make an arrest on the case, it was very high profile. Chea Vichea was known internationally as well as nationally and it appears they needed a couple of scapegoats and these two guys fell in their laps and that's who they decided to go with. One of them wasn't even in Phnom Penh, he was 40 miles away on the day of the killing but from the police perspective that didn't seem to matter. They were used as scapegoats anyway.
COCHRANE: Now you talk of "they" needing scapegoats... Outside the court this week Chea Vichea's brother, Chea Mony, repeated allegations he's made before that the government was involved in his brother's murder. And Khieu Sopheak, the Ministry of Interior spokesman threatened to take him to court over those kind of statements. Has your investigation uncovered any evidence of the authorities being involved in Chea Vichea's death?
COX: Well, I'm not sure what evidence when Chea Mony said that he said that the government killed his brother. What I do know is that the police, led by Hok Lundy and Heng Pov, did deliberately frame the two men in the case - I prove that in the movie that is being released next month. The question is, 'Who told the police to frame these guys and why?' My guess is that Chea Mony assumes that the government had to tell the police how to do this because, who else is there to tell the police? I assume that's his reasoning, but you'd have to ask him, I'm not really sure.
COCHRANE: Now Chea Vichea wasn't the only prominent figure killed around that time. Can you tell us briefly about some others and what's happened with those cases?
COX: Well in the year before he was killed, there was a slew of murders, mostly politically-related. In the beginning of 2003, there was monk, Sam Bun Thoeun, who was urging monks to vote, who strongly supported the opposition. There was Om Radsady, who was a very close adviser to Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who was the president of the FUNCINPEC party.
COCHRANE: And what's happened as a result of these kinds of cases? Have there been investigations? Have there been convictions?
COX: Well all these cases are similar in many ways. Number one, almost all of them were killed by two men on a motorbike. All these cases were investigated by Heng Pov, of the Phnom Penh police. All of these have had very unsatisfactory conclusions - either no-one was arrested or the people who were arrested, like in the Chea Vichea case, were obviously innocent of the case.
COCHRANE: Now we've heard earlier about the Khmer Rouge tribunal as an important step in establishing some kind of bottom line of justice in Cambodia. How important is this case in terms of establishing a strong position on impunity?
COX: Well, I think this case is a good example of the impunity that continues to exist there and this case is very similar to a lot of other murder cases, some of which I just mentioned to you now and there are others even from that same time period. I think if the government was serious about finding justice for these people, then you would see some of these cases being satisfactorily concluded. But that isn't the case and there's wide speculation that the courts are controlled by the government; they're told how to handle cases, anything that is political has to go through them and so they end up what is best for them and justice has very little to so with it.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Brad Cox, director the documentary, 'Who Killed Chea Vichea?'
COX: I agree 100 per cent [that charges should be dropped against Born Samnang and Sok Sam Ouen]. For the last five years they've tried to build the case; they've never produced any credible evidence and so its a long time coming. These guys should have been never even arrested in the first place.
COCHRANE: And why were they arrested?
COX: Ah, well there're a lot of theories of why they were arrested. There was a lot of international pressure on the government and the police to make an arrest on the case, it was very high profile. Chea Vichea was known internationally as well as nationally and it appears they needed a couple of scapegoats and these two guys fell in their laps and that's who they decided to go with. One of them wasn't even in Phnom Penh, he was 40 miles away on the day of the killing but from the police perspective that didn't seem to matter. They were used as scapegoats anyway.
COCHRANE: Now you talk of "they" needing scapegoats... Outside the court this week Chea Vichea's brother, Chea Mony, repeated allegations he's made before that the government was involved in his brother's murder. And Khieu Sopheak, the Ministry of Interior spokesman threatened to take him to court over those kind of statements. Has your investigation uncovered any evidence of the authorities being involved in Chea Vichea's death?
COX: Well, I'm not sure what evidence when Chea Mony said that he said that the government killed his brother. What I do know is that the police, led by Hok Lundy and Heng Pov, did deliberately frame the two men in the case - I prove that in the movie that is being released next month. The question is, 'Who told the police to frame these guys and why?' My guess is that Chea Mony assumes that the government had to tell the police how to do this because, who else is there to tell the police? I assume that's his reasoning, but you'd have to ask him, I'm not really sure.
COCHRANE: Now Chea Vichea wasn't the only prominent figure killed around that time. Can you tell us briefly about some others and what's happened with those cases?
COX: Well in the year before he was killed, there was a slew of murders, mostly politically-related. In the beginning of 2003, there was monk, Sam Bun Thoeun, who was urging monks to vote, who strongly supported the opposition. There was Om Radsady, who was a very close adviser to Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who was the president of the FUNCINPEC party.
COCHRANE: And what's happened as a result of these kinds of cases? Have there been investigations? Have there been convictions?
COX: Well all these cases are similar in many ways. Number one, almost all of them were killed by two men on a motorbike. All these cases were investigated by Heng Pov, of the Phnom Penh police. All of these have had very unsatisfactory conclusions - either no-one was arrested or the people who were arrested, like in the Chea Vichea case, were obviously innocent of the case.
COCHRANE: Now we've heard earlier about the Khmer Rouge tribunal as an important step in establishing some kind of bottom line of justice in Cambodia. How important is this case in terms of establishing a strong position on impunity?
COX: Well, I think this case is a good example of the impunity that continues to exist there and this case is very similar to a lot of other murder cases, some of which I just mentioned to you now and there are others even from that same time period. I think if the government was serious about finding justice for these people, then you would see some of these cases being satisfactorily concluded. But that isn't the case and there's wide speculation that the courts are controlled by the government; they're told how to handle cases, anything that is political has to go through them and so they end up what is best for them and justice has very little to so with it.
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