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

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) 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

Jim Luce of the Huffington Post interviews Brad and Rich about Who Killed Chea Vichea? and I daresay our comments are very smart. Also, he calls the film "gripping" and "deeply moving." We couldn't agree more.

Read it here

Labels: press, reviews

Thanks to Theary Seng for her posting on Who Killed Chea Vichea?, which she calls a "brilliant, excellent, high-quality film." Theary is an author, columnist and former Center for Social Development director (web site) who has dedicated her life to peace and justice in Cambodia.

Labels: reviews

From Jim Luce's interview of Cambodian member of parliament Mu Sochua in The Huffington Post:

... Who Killed Chea Vichea? will premiere March 27 at the Frederick Film Festival in Maryland. Chea was shot in broad daylight by assassins, but the government arrested two other men and imprisoned them for their supposed crime.

I was given a private screening of this moving film by its director Bradley Cox and will write its review shortly. Images of Buddhist priests crying as they watch the funeral procession are haunting.

Labels: press, reviews