On March 7 Who Killed Chea Vichea? screened at Shippensburg University as part of the International Studies Film Series "From Human Wrongs to Human Rights: A Global Undertaking."

The screening was followed by Q&A with producer Rich Garella, and was free and open to the public.


Sponsored by the International Studies Program, the History/Philosophy Department, and the Office of Social Equity. Download International Studies Newsletter with article on the screening here.

Labels: screenings

Originally convicted soon after the assassination of labor leader Chea Vichea in 2004, the two men served nearly five years of their sentences before their provisional release was ordered by the Supreme Court on 31 January 2008.

Phnom Penh Post article
Licadho statement
Human Rights Watch statement

The Peabody Award-winning documentary Who Killed Chea Vichea? was released in 2011 and broadcast on US public television that year. Based on over five years of research, investigation and filming, it demonstrates conclusively that neither man was guilty of the crime. Furthermore it implicates members of the security forces and exposes a coordinated plot by the police and courts to frame Samnang and Sam Oeun. The film is banned in Cambodia.

"It's an absolute disgrace," said Bradley Cox, the director of Who Killed Chea Vichea?. "The incarceration of activist Mom Sonando, the killing of environmentalist Chut Wutty, the re-imprisonment of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun… When will our diplomats pull their thumbs out and do their jobs? They call themselves champions of human rights, freedom of speech and the rule of law and yet they consistently look the other way when they're needed most.

"Shame on the Cambodian government for this travesty of justice and shame on us for allowing it to happen over and over and over again."

"No one can seriously believe they're guilty," said Rich Garella, producer of Who Killed Chea Vichea?. "There hasn't been a shred of evidence presented against them. This re-conviction is heartbreaking, despicable, disgusting.

"In ordering the re-imprisonment of these two men, Hun Sen is being very purposeful. He is showing that he can do anything in Cambodia. He is showing diplomats, opposition politicians and the public in general that he can and will imprison even unimportant regular people. It's not just the influential who must fear him. It's everybody. Hun Sen is being quite open about his position as dictator. He is a dictator by any reasonable definition."

Loud Mouth Films is the production company for Who Killed Chea Vichea?, co-produced by the Independent Television Service with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The film is available in English, French, Spanish and Khmer at www.whokilledcheavichea.com/order.html and by download at www.indiepixfilms.com/film/5365. The Khmer-only version can be seen online at www.vicheamovie.com and is free for distribution within Cambodia.

Labels: news

The 3rd annual Luang Prabang Film Festival: Celebrating Southeast Asian Cinema, which runs from December 1 to 5, features the Laos premiere of Who Killed Chea Vichea?, in its impressive lineup of films.

"Standout films this year include Who Killed Chea Vichea?, a documentary about the assassination of a Cambodian union leader and the ensuing cover-up." -- TIME magazine

The complete festival program is here.

Labels: festivals, screenings

Just announced: Who Killed Chea Vichea? will screen in competition at the 25th Annual Foyle Film Festival, running from November 21st through 25th in in Derry, Northern Ireland.

There's a great lineup of films -- check out the full program! 

Labels: festivals, screenings

art6 presents the exclusive Richmond screening of the Peabody Award-winning documentary Who Killed Chea Vichea?, a highly charged murder mystery and political thriller focusing on the assassination of a Cambodian labor leader. Produced by Richmond native Jeffrey Saunders.

There will also be shorts by Mary Beth Reed, abstract hand-painted films mixed with film images, and a film by Charlie Bissey about a young woman watching her own abandonment unfold.

Labels: screenings

Who Killed Chea Vichea? screens for the very first time in Berlin, at Moviemento Kino on October 30.

We are proud to double-feature with We Want (U) to Know, an extraordinary film in which villagers from all around Cambodia take the camera in their own hands to document what they have gone through during and after the Khmer Rouge era.

The films are followed by Q&A with Ella Pugliese, director of We Want (U) to Know and Rich Garella, producer of Who Killed Chea Vichea?.

Labels: screenings

The University of Calgary hosts a screening of Who Killed Chea Vichea? on Monday, September 17th.

The screening is free and open to the public, and includes a discussion after the film with producer Rich Garella.

Labels: screenings

Who Killed Chea Vichea? is featured in multiple screenings at Imagining Cambodia, the Cambodian Studies Conference hosted by Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.

Co-sponsors are the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Ohio University and the University of Massachusetts–Lowell. Producer Rich Garella will speak on the Media and Film panel.

These screening are not open to the public, but the new film Lost Loves will screen for the public at 8:00 pm in Cole Hall. Filmmaker Chhay Bora will be there to offer commentary.

Labels: screenings

Who Killed Chea Vichea? will be the opening film at the 9th Annual JEEVIKA: Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival, organized by the Centre for Civil Society and taking place from August 31 to September 2 in New Delhi, India.


This will be Who Killed Chea Vichea?'s India premiere. Thirteen films were selected in the professional category, along with five student films; see the full program.

Labels: festivals, screenings

Who Killed Chea Vichea? screens eight times in New Zealand's premiere documentary film festival, Documentary Edge Festival 2012 -- where it just won top honors in the Human Rights category!

There are four screenings in Wellington, all of them at Angelika Cinema at Reading Cinemas Courtenay, 100 Courtenay Place:

Tickets are available from the festival web site. Please check out the whole list of 72 films ; for multi-film passes see this page.

Labels: festivals, screenings

This film documents the 2004 assassination of outspoken Cambodian labor leader Chea Vichea. Filmmaker Cox records his own intense five-year investigation of the murder from the moment he arrives on the scene and films Vichea’s bleeding body in the street.

From there on, Cox has the story in his teeth and tracks it where it takes him—from Phnom Penh into Cambodian villages, across Europe, to Canada and the United States. He interviews family members and supporters of Vichea and of the two men who were railroaded for the crime. He speaks to people who provide alibis for the accused men and follows a fearful eyewitness to Thailand to take her statement. 

With strong reportorial instincts, a dogged investigation, and an innate ability to collect, film, and connect the disparate pieces of the story, Cox exposes the government involvement in Vichea’s killing and abuses of power at the country’s highest levels. 

VERDICT: Who Killed Chea Vichea? is the double cinematic whammy: an intense and disturbing true drama and a testament to the power of documentary film.

Labels: reviews

Several news articles have drawn parallels between the assassination of Chea Vichea and the murder of Chut Wutty just a few days ago, and rightly so.

Wutty, director of the Natural Resources Protection Group, was shot dead by military police who were apparently guarding a facility of the Timbergreen Company, a mysterious entity involved in clearing land in Koh Kong. The murder took place in the presence of two reporters from The Cambodia Daily. Their gripping account is here.

If you've seen Who Killed Chea Vichea? you'll see a chilling similarity in the short video above, in which Wutty explains why he spent twenty years fighting deforestation — twenty years that ended on Thursday, April 26, deep in the forests of Mondul Seima district.

"The killing is having explosive ramifications, and the parallels with the killing of Chea Vichea are enormous," writes Luke Hunt in The Diplomat. "Chut Vuthy had been prominent in uncovering the secret sell-off of state forests, illegal rosewood harvesting and land grabs in the area where a Chinese dam is being built."
Hunt interviews Bradley Cox, the director of Who Killed Chea Vichea?, who adds:

"He reminds me quite a bit of labor leader Chea Vichea. Both were outspoken, both were willing to stand up for what they believe despite threats and harassment, and both paid the price for their convictions.

"I think there’s a message in this for Cambodians, and that’s to keep your head down and your mouth shut. Most people take this message to heart. There are very few that don’t and that’s what makes guys like Chut Vuthy and Chea Vichea special.

"They gain the admiration of the Cambodian people, but also the ire of the powers that be. And as much as I hate to say it, I doubt this tragedy will be the last."

In AFP coverage, opposition politician Mu Sochua also related the two cases.

Not since the 2004 daylight murder of union leader Chea Vichea has Cambodia lost an activist as influential as Chhut Vuthy, she added, accusing donor countries of "making no noise" in support of ordinary Cambodians' rights. 

"I want to be optimistic, I want to see hope but I'm afraid there is no more Chea Vichea, and there is no more Chhut Vuthy," she said. "They cannot be replaced. That is the aim of those who ordered the killings."

Mu Sochua is right. Just as Cambodia's exploiters are stripping the country bare of the resources the people need in order to survive, they are stripping the country bare of the heroes who fight for a better future. Vichea, Wutty and so many others cannot be replaced, but their work can be carried on.

Labels: news, press

The Peabody Award–winning investigative documentary Who Killed Chea Vichea? screens for the first time in New Zealand, in the country's premiere documentary film festival, Documentary Edge Festival 2012 ... and takes top honors in the Human Rights category!

One sunny morning, a motorcycle pulled up to a newsstand in Phnom Penh. Chea Vichea, Cambodia's most prominent labor leader, looked up from his paper and was executed on the spot. Pressured by rights groups and foreign aid donors, the police arrested two local men. They were sentenced to twenty years in prison. Were they guilty, or was their conviction part of a larger plan? Starting at the scene of the murder, director Bradley Cox's investigation leads far beyond the local police, through the courts, to the upper echelons of the ruling party. Banned in Cambodia.

In Auckland, at Event Cinemas Newmarket, 77 Broadway, Newmarket:


Tickets will be available from the festival web site. Please check out the whole list of 72 films — for multi-film passes see this page.

Labels: festivals, screenings

Vantha Kem of Radio Free Asia interviewed Who Killed Chea Vichea? producer Rich Garella about the film's winning a Peabody Award and the Cambodian government's response. The segment was broadcast on April 29, in Khmer. Garella comments:

"We read that the spokesperson for the Council of Ministers, Phay Siphan, said that the Peabody Awards were likely politically motivated. Not surprising, coming from the Cambodian government — political motivation is all they know."

listen (mp3)

Labels: press

The 26-minute documentary The Trap of Saving Cambodia will screen first, followed by Q&A with director Tim Sorel, then Who Killed Chea Vichea? and Q&A with producer Rich Garella.


The forum is organized by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Ohio University, with primary sponsorship of the Ohio Humanities Council and Arts for Ohio.

Labels: screenings

Please join the Sohbet Society for Human Rights for a screening of Who Killed Chea Vichea? at the University of South Australia on April 27. This screening is free and open to the public!

Labels: screenings

The Cambodian government reacts to Who Killed Chea Vichea?'s Peabody Award. From The Cambodia Daily:

Phay Siphan, spokesman at the [Cambodian government] Council of Ministers, who saw the documentary last year, said the Peabody Awards were likely a “politically motivated” institution” ... “It’s a campaign against the government....It’s more like propaganda,” said Mr. Siphan, adding that anyone can submit a complaint to the Ministry of Interior about the killing of Chea Vichea if they want to.

Chea Vichea Documentary Receives Prestigious Award (April 6, 2012)

In the Phnom Penh Post, the director of the Peabody Board, Horace Newcomb, and the director of Who Killed Chea Vichea?, Bradley Cox, respond to Siphan's accusation:

“This is simply not the case,” said Newcomb. “A review of all the award recipients over the years shows a concern for social issues, but also for entertainment, education, public service and so on. Such a review would show no political motivation other than our interest in excellent media production.”

“The Cambodian government has been trying to block our movie from the beginning, so it’s no surprise that they would disparage it again now, but their comments, as usual, are completely without merit,” Cox said.  

Peabody Puts Banned Film Back in Spotlight (April 12, 2012)

Speaking to Voice of America, Newcomb added “The Peabody Award is not politically motivated ... It looks for excellence in media production, excellence of many different sorts, excellence on its own terms, and that’s what we found in this documentary.” (VoA, April 18, 2012)

Labels: news, press

Loud Mouth Films is very proud to announce that Who Killed Chea Vichea? has received a George Foster Peabody Award. The Peabody is the most prestigious electronic media award in the world, recognizing "excellence, distinguished achievement, and meritorious public service." There are no categories and no fixed number of awards.

This year, 38 winners were chosen by the Peabody board as "the best in electronic media for the year 2011." Other winners this year include CNN, the BBC, Al Jazeera and Stephen Colbert.


From the Peabody site:

This investigative documentary, produced on a shoestring budget, covers the 2004 assassination of a Cambodian trade union leader and exposes corruption in one of the world’s top exporters of low-cost clothing.

And from their press release:

Who Killed Chea Vichea? "didn’t let a limited budget or official resistance derail its investigation of the murder of a top labor leader in Cambodia, a major producer of low-cost clothing."

We are frankly overwhelmed by this recognition of the years of hard work that we put into this, and by the recognition of the invaluable help from so many others and the risks taken by by so many people in Cambodia, where the film is still officially banned.

More:

• Ticket information for the May 21 award ceremony
• Announcements from ITVS (our co-producer), IndiePix (our DVD distributor) and MercuryMedia (our foreign broadcast distributor)
• Reaction from KBDI in Denver Post
• WHYY news story and follow-up
• Cambodia Daily article including Cambodian government reaction
• Phnom Penh Post article including response from Peabody director
• Voice of America coverage (also in Khmer, here)
• Radio Free Asia coverage (in Khmer)

Labels: news, reviews

Thanks to Video Librarian magazine for a three-star review and recommendation!

Cambodian trade-union president and activist Chea Vichea was gunned down on the streets of Phnom Penh in 2004 in the aftermath of a controversial election, during which he received text-message death threats from someone he suspected was a high-level authority figure. Two tearful suspects who were arrested had strong alibis and repeatedly claimed innocence, insisting that signed confessions were secured by police coercion and torture; a key witness later fled to the U.S. and recanted. Nonetheless, the "assassins" were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Telescoping outwards from this miscarriage of justice, filmmaker Bradley Cox interweaves archival and contemporary footage with interviews of eyewitnesses and others to present a damning journalistic investigation that functions less as an answer to the titular question than as a look at Cambodia's thug-ocracy, where courts and cops are an extension of the strongman regime that kills citizens at will and puts on a token appearance of democracy and "justice" for the international community (especially the U.S. and other avid consumers of sweatshop goods). This pathology, Cox suggests, inevitably arose from a society borne of the infamous Khmer Rouge genocide that left fewer than a dozen educated people alive in the entire country. DVD extras include interviews, deleted scenes, and background on Cambodia's justice system and garment industry. Recommended. (C. Cassady) 

Download announcement (pdf)

Labels: press, reviews

Who Killed Chea Vichea? got a great turnout on the opening night of the Chiang Mai Documentary Arts Festival, which ran February 24-26, 2012.

The evening's program opened with the short Burma: Sexual Violence as a Weapon and a discussion with its director, Preethi Nallu, and continued with Who Killed Chea Vichea? at 7:30. Check out the rest of the weekend's schedule here!

Labels: festivals, screenings