Among the Disappeared 2003
Distributed by Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th Street, New York, NY 10016; 202-808-4980
Produced by Gerald B. Sperling
Directed by Fangfang Guo
VHS, color, 55 min.
Sr. High - Adult
Asian Studies, Human Rights, Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Paul Moeller, University of Colorado at BoulderThis documentary follows Kadaim Ear on a quest to learn more of the land and family he had left behind when he fled the excesses of Khmer Rouge Cambodia. The son of a low level government employee, Kadaim, his two brothers, and three sisters had enjoyed a happy childhood in Phnom Penh until the turmoil of civil war in neighboring Vietnam spilled over into Cambodia. The regime of King Sihanouk was overthrown by the American influenced Lon Nol, who in turn was toppled by the Khmer Rouge. The people of Phnom Penh initially greeted the Khmer Rouge with enthusiasm but soon discovered that they, along with most other city dwellers, were to be forcibly relocated to the countryside. Separated from his parents and sisters, Kadaim along with his brothers and grandfather were sent to ever more remote villages. In the midst of these moves they lost most of their possessions, an older brother died of starvation, and an uncle was executed. Not knowing the fate of Kadaim’s parents and sisters and fearing for their safety, the Ear family fled to a refuge camp in Thailand. Upon arrival at the camp, however, they were forced by Thai officials to return to Cambodia through a minefield. After much hardship they eventually made it to another refugee camp in Thailand, and from there to safety in Canada.
Among the Disappeared serves as an introduction to the rise of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the shocking conditions the people of Cambodia were forced to live through, and the autogenocide which took place there. In the years 1975-79, 1.7 million Cambodians (1/5th of the population) died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge or from the starvation caused by Khmer Rouge policies. Utilizing archival footage, Kadaim’s recollections, and interviews with survivors, Gerald Sperling tells the disturbing story of the “disappeared” Cambodians. Kadaim’s experiences serve as a means to investigate the resilience of the human spirit and provide an instrument by which viewers can begin to understand how the lives of Cambodians were affected by the Khmer Rouge. This film should be of interest to students of modern Southeast Asian history, genocide and holocaust studies, and the Cambodian Diaspora. Recommended for viewers from high school to adult and for the libraries who serve them.