ខ្សែភាពយន្ត​រឿង​លោក​ជា​ វិជ្ជា​ទទួល​បាន​រង្វាន់​ Peabody ​ដ៏​ល្បី​ល្បាញ​

ឈុត​មួយ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ភាពយន្ត​ឯកសារ «អ្នកណា​សម្លាប់​លោក​ជា​វិជ្ជា?»​ លោក​ជា វិជ្ជា​ គឺជា​មេដឹកនាំ​សហជីព​ដ៏មាន​ប្រជាប្រិយភាព​ដែល​ត្រូវ​បាន​គេ​ធ្វើ​ឃាដ នៅថ្ងៃទី២២ មករា ២០០៤ ក្នុង​រាជធានីភ្នំពេញ។ (រូបថត៖ ផលិតករ «អ្នកណា​សម្លាប់​លោក​ជា​វិជ្ជា?»​)

ថ្ងៃច័ន្ទ, 16 ខែមេសា 2012
ដោយ ម៉ែន គឹមសេង វីអូអេ ខ្មែរ | វ៉ាស៊ីនតោន

ផៃស៊ីផេះ ៖ «ខ្សែ​ភាពយន្ត​នេះ​មាន​ការ​ផ្សព្វ​ផ្សាយ​ដែល​មាន​ចរិក​ជា​នយោបាយ​ដែល​មិន​មែន​ជា​ចរិក​ឯកសារ​ហើយ​អ្វី​ដែល​ជា​ផល​ប៉ះពាល់​នៃ​ការផ្តល់​អ្វី​ដែល​ជា​កិត្តិយស​ដែល​ជា​រង្វាន់​នោះ​ជា​រឿង​ឯកជន​ទេ​មិន​មែន​ជា​រឿង​យុត្តិធម៌​សម្រាប់​កម្ពុជា​ទេ...

គ្រាប់​កាំភ្លើង​ដែល​​បាន​បាញ់​ចេញ​ទាំង​ព្រឹក​ឆក់​យក​ជីវិត​លោក ជា វិជ្ជា​នៅ​ក្បែរ​វត្ត​លង្កា​កាល​ពី​៨​ឆ្នាំ​មុន​​មិន​បាន​​បញ្ចប់​ភាព​ល្បី​ល្បាញ​​និង​​វីរភាព​របស់​អតីត​មេដឹក​នាំ​សហជីព​ដ៏​ជា​ទី​គោរព​រូប​នេះ​ទេ។

ខ្សែ​ភាពយន្ត​ឯកសារ​ស្តីពី​ការសម្លាប់​វីរជន​កម្មករ​ដ៏​ល្បី​ឈ្មោះ​រូប​នេះ​បាន​ទទួល​ពាន​រង្វាន់ ​Peabody​ ដែល​ជា​រង្វាន់​សម្រាប់​អ្នកសារព័ត៌មាន​ដ៏​មាន​កិត្តិយស​នៅ​ក្នុង​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក។

លោក​ ហូរ៉េស​ ញូខុម ​ប្រធាន​នៃ​គណ​កម្មការ​ផ្តល់​រង្វាន់​ Peabody ​របស់​សាកល​វិទ្យាល័យ ​Georgia បាន​បញ្ជាក់​ប្រាប់​វីអូអេ​ថា ​ក្រុម​គណៈ​កម្មការ​មើល​ឃើញ​ថា​ភាពយន្ត​នេះ​មាន​លក្ខណៈ​ល្អ​អត់​ខ្ចោះ​ដោយសារ​តែ​បាន​ព្យាយាម​បង្ហាញ​ពី​ស្ថានភាព​នយោបាយ​នៅ​កម្ពុជា​ហើយ​បាន​បង្ហាញ​ពី​​ភស្តុតាង​ខ្លះ​ប៉ុន្តែ​នៅ​បន្ត​រក្សា​ទុក​ភាព​ស្រពិច​ស្រពិល​ ហើយ​ទី​បំផុត​អាច​ចូលរួម​ចំណែក​បាន​ថា​ជា​ស្នាដៃ​ដ៏​សំខាន់​ក្នុង​សាច់​រឿង​នោះ។

"Who Killed Chea Vichea?" - A VOA Interview of Rich Garella

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITTgv9qlJDk&feature=relmfu


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW6Ft4dOzKI&feature=relmfu


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd_Iif4uZq8

"Who Killed Chea Vichea" received the United Nations Assoc. Film Festival Award for Cinematography

UNAFF Award

Congratulations to

Bradley Cox,

Rich Garella,

Jeffrey Saunders

and the entire team!

For more information, click here

Chea Vichea Murder Hurt Labor Movement: Experts

Chea Vichea's murder

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Tuesday, 12 October 2010

“The killing of Chea Vichea has weakened the labor movement greatly.”

Although the documentary “Who Killed Chea Vichea?” does not answer its own question, and although that question is invariably asked by viewers, the producers say one thing is certain: the murder of Cambodia's top labor leader in 2004 hurt the country's labor movement.

The film, which examines the murder of Chea Vichea, who was then the president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, was shown at the Washington headquarters of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations—the largest federation of unions in the US—last week.

Producer Rich Garella said no improvements in workers rights have come about since Chea Vichea was killed by unknown assailants in 2004.

“The killing of Chea Vichea has weakened the labor movement greatly,” Rich Garella told the audience after the screening. “And it goes to show that a movement is made up of many individual people, but when you have a charismatic leader like that, it counts for a lot.”

A leader like Chea Vichea was able to strengthen the negotiations of workers, he said, while at the same time helping factories boost sales.

Cambodia's workers say they have come under increased pressure from a rising cost of living. Last month, thousands of workers went on a four-day general strike to demand negotiations for better pay.

Timonthy Ryan, program director of the Solidarity Center, said Cambodia has a good labor law compared to other Southeast Asian countries, but it is now under threat.

“The real issue that is happening now is there are attempts to change the labor law and to weaken those workers’ rights provisions, and that's the concern not only of the Cambodian unions, but it’s a concern of the international labor movement,” Ryan told VOA Khmer.

While labor leaders do not face the threats of violence they once did, they still face legal threats, he said.

Hundreds of labor leaders are now out of work following September's strike, as the courts consider legal suits brought by companies.

“The emphasis should be, for workers advocates, not only on the companies, but on the brands who ultimately are buying the products,” Ryun said. Big brands—like Levi Strauss, Adidas, Target, Sears, and others—can ensure owners comply with labor laws, he added.

Cambodia vs. 'Chea'

Who Killed Chea Vichea?

Sat., Jun. 5, 2010
By DAVE MCNARY
Variety.com

Director claims gov is preventing screenings of pic

The director of "Who Killed Chea Vichea?," a documentary about the 2004 slaying of the Cambodian union leader, is asserting that the Cambodian government has banned screenings of the film.

U.S. helmer Bradley Cox says the government has been preventing showings of his film for the past month in the first banning of a politically charged film since the 1980s.

The movie screened at the recently wrapped Cannes market and has been playing the festival circuit for the past two years. It's been named to Amnesty Intl.'s Top Ten Movies That Matter list.

Cox says trade unionists attempted to hold the film's Cambodian premiere at the location where Vichea was killed but police raided the scene, leading to a declaration by the Cambodian government that the pic is an illegal import.

The movie makes the case that the government was allegedly complicit in the slaying and that police framed two innocent men for the killing.

"It's not surprising that the government would quickly move to suppress the film," Cox tells Variety. "Chea Vichea was a hero to many because he dared to speak up for the little guy. In a country run on fear, this is a rare thing and in the end, Vichea payed the price for it."

Doc was produced by Rich Garella and Jeffrey Sanders.

Garella lived in Cambodia for most of 1995-2003, was managing editor of the Cambodia Daily and later worked as press secretary for Cambodia's main opposition party.

Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Public Screening of Who Killed Chea Vichea?

NEWS RELEASE
July 31, 2009

PUBLIC SCREENING OF WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA?
AT RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Loud Mouth Films is proud to present the first U.S. festival screening of Who Killed Chea Vichea? in Providence, Rhode Island.

Who Killed Chea Vichea? will be screened at 5:20 PM on Friday, Aug 7, at the Columbus Theatre Arts Center, 270 Broadway, Providence, along with the short films In Their Boots: Broken Promise by Abe Greenwald, and Open Air by Shira-Lee Shalit.

Filmed over five years in Cambodia, Who Killed Chea Vichea? is a one-hour documentary thriller about the assassination of Cambodia's top labor leader and the police plot to frame two innocent men. Cambodia is one of the world's largest garment producers and exports some $2 billion worth of garments to the U.S. each year.

On a sunny morning in 2004, two men on a motorbike pulled up at a Phnom Penh newsstand. One of them stepped off, walked over to Chea Vichea, the president of the garment workers union, and calmly shot him in the head and in the heart. Who Killed Chea Vichea? takes us from the dusty streets and slums of Phnom Penh to remote villages, through courtrooms, brothels, factories and gambling dens. It is an unprecedented film about the inner workings of one of the world's most corrupt states.

Produced by Providence native Rich Garella and directed by Bradley Cox, the film was named one of Amnesty International's top ten "Movies That Matter." It is a co-production of Independent Television Services and WGBH Boston.

"There's a large Cambodian community in Providence, and we're going to do our best to reach out to them," Garella said. The festival has already agreed to donate a block of tickets to Providence organization of Cambodian youth.

Contact:

Loud Mouth Films: info@loudmouthfilms.net

Festival and ticket info:

RI International Film Festival: http://riff.bside.com/2009/films/whokilledcheavichea_riff2009

Film website:

Who Killed Chea Vichea? official site: http://www.whokilledcheavichea.com

On FaceBook:

Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=76083065273
Event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=100857517875

BACKGROUND AND FILM SYNOPSIS

By 2004, Cambodia was becoming one of the world's largest garment exporters. Foreign-owned factories employed hundreds of thousands of desperate young women who flooded in from the countryside. The country quickly became dependent on garment exports. Its biggest customer was, and is, the United States.

Vichea, the president of Cambodia's free trade union, slept on a straw mat in the union office and didn't collect a salary. Despite beatings and death threats, he rallied the workers as they fought for wage increases, improved working conditions and an end to forced overtime, and often won. He gained an international reputation in the labor movement, and Cambodia gained a reputation as a model country for worker's rights.

But inside Cambodia, the lesson of the Khmer Rouge regime, and of the regimes before and after it, is well known. Ally oneself with power--or face the consequences.

WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA? is about the killing of one man and the slow silencing of an entire nation. It is about how a small elite keeps an iron grip on power through the use of its police, its army, its manipulation of the courts and its most effective tool: fear. And it is about how hope survives against incredible odds.
--
Loud Mouth Films
Philadelphia/Bangkok
http://www.whokilledcheavichea.com

Please help the filmmakers of "Who Killed Chea Vichea?"

Brad with Samnang and his mom
Sam Ouen

Request from filmmakers of "Who Killed Chea Vichea?"
22 January 2009

Help make history

History isn't what has happened. History is what is known to have happened.

Five years ago today, Chea Vichea, the outspoken leader of Cambodia's garment workers, was shot down on the street in Phnom Penh. Within minutes, Bradley Cox was there with his camera as police swarmed the scene.

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were arrested only days later, and Brad was there. The framing of these two innocent men started his five-year journey to record history as it happened.

"Who Killed Chea Vichea?" isn't even finished yet, and it's already having an impact. Samnang and Sok Oeun were released by the Supreme Court three weeks ago, after five years in prison. And again, Brad was there to film it.

While it's impossible to know for sure why Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were released, many observers have told us that the film must have played a big part in the decision. The government was well aware of it, and the government relies on foreign aid.

But their names have not been cleared. The case against them has gone back to the appeals court. Meanwhile the real killers are still out there. The same is true of the killers of human rights advocate Om Radsady, radio announcer Chor Chatharith, actress Piseth Pilika and many others who have found themselves on the wrong side of power in Cambodia.

As long as these crimes go unpunished inside Cambodia and unknown outside Cambodia, fear will continue to rule. This film is meant to help change that fact.

We need your help now to finish this film and make history.

Click here to donate

A typical documentary of this scale costs $400,000 to $600,000. We are making our film for half of that. Beyond putting in our personal resources and countless hours of work, we are making every additional dollar count.

Why? Because like you, we're passionate about the truth. We're passionate about this case and we're passionate about human rights in Cambodia and around the world.

While we are receiving public television funding, it is not enough. We are only a few months away from finishing the movie but we still need to raise money to help pay for a small office space in New York, to help pay for an editor, for graphics and sound mixing, and more. For example:

• $50 pays for a typical festival entrance fee
• $200 pays for a hard drive, or for the rights to a video clip
• $500 pays for one day's shooting
• $1000 pays for screening the film for workers in Cambodia or another garment-producing country

Will you help us?

Click here to donate

If you can donate $200 or more we will list you as a donor on the big screen, on the home DVD and in the TV version if possible. In any case we will list your name on the web site. (Thanks again to those who are already there!)

Thank you for your support. May the new year bring justice and joy.

Rich Garella,
Jeffrey Saunders
and Bradley Cox

PS:
We received this note recently from one of our translators in Cambodia; for his own safety he doesn't want his name used:

"This work made me more determined to fight in this highly unbalanced war. Compared to Vichea my sacrifice is much much less. How can I remain idle for Vichea's cause? Once again thanks for your help for the cause of my country. Your work has an incredible value."

One day, we will be able to give him the credit he deserves, along with all the other Cambodians who risked their own safety to help make this film. Your support now can bring that day closer.