Pol Pot Dancing

Cinema Documentary, Germany 2023, 101’

World Sales: New Docs

In the royal palace of Cambodia, a dancer raises a boy like he was one of her own. Decades later, under the force of the Khmer Rouge, she discovers that her foster son is none other than Pol Pot. Enrique Sánchez Lansch tells the thrilling story of this horrible culture war combining choreographies with never seen archive material and interviews with eywitnesses.

A star dancer at the Cambodian royal court lovingly raises her husband’s little brother as her own son. Decades later, as a forced laborer under the oppressive rule of Khmer Rouge, she discovers that her foster son is none other than Pol Pot. The mass purges of the regime (spanning from 1975 to 1979 – Pol Pot annihilated 25% of Cambodia’s population) are intertwined with painful memories of the relatives of the bloodthirsty dictator, who today stage an impressive dance performance depicting an encounter between the leader of the Khmer Rouge and his foster mother. In this stunning documentary, valuable archival material is seamlessly combined with the images of the dancers, the traditional costumes, and the descriptions of the deep significance behind this major cultural expression of the Cambodian people, offering a flawless outcome, one that is profoundly melancholic, beautiful, and yet at the same time tragic. Art serves as pain relief for the greatest open wounds of History.

Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival 2024, International Competition

One of the most compelling films to hold its world premiere at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival. (…) Director Enrique Sánchez Lansch tracked down the incredibly rare archives to tell the true story of Pol Pot’s background. Rehearsals and scenes from the dance form the crux of Pol Pot Dancing – in a sense, by honoring that artform, the film can be called a rebuke to the dictator who almost eradicated a form of artistic expression that belongs to the world’s cultural patrimony.

Deadline

It’s a strange detail in history not widely known. The Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, responsible for killing around a quarter of his own people during the period of the Khmer Rouge, spent part of his childhood at the Cambodian royal court. He was brought up there by his foster mother, Chea Samy, a celebrated dancer who had married Pol’s older brother. Pol Pot Dancing, the new feature documentary directed by Enrique Sánchez Lansch, looks at this surprising episode. The film, sold by New Docs, is a world premiere in competition at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.

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Written & Directed by Enrique Sánchez Lansch

DoP – Marcus Winterbauer

Editor – Julia Oehring

Sound Recordist – Patrick Veigel

Sound Mix - Sølve Huse-Amundsen 

Music - Christoph M. Kaiser & Julian Maas 

Producers – Arne Birkenstock, Laryssa Stone

Coproducers - Christian Aune Falch, Torstein Parelius, Ingrid Galadriel Aune Falch 

Production Accountant – Kirsten Schauries

A Fruitmarket Arts & Media production in coproduction with Up North Films in coproduction with ZDF in cooperation with ARTE

Supported by 

BKM - Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien,

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, 

DFFF - Deutscher Filmförderfonds, 

FFA - Filmförderungsanstalt, 

The Norwegian Film Institute,

The Fritt Ord Foundation