Deacon of Death - Looking for Justice in Today's Cambodia

In DEACON OF DEATH, the Cambodian Sok Chea, a woman in her thirties, pays a visit to Karoby, a man whom she claims has many deaths on his conscience. During the Red Khmer regime, he allegedly gave orders to torture and kill people. Through a crack in a shutter, little Sok Chea witnessed these atrocities. But fear of retaliation against her family has thus far dissuaded her from returning to the place of the crime. After a friend has gone to Karoby's village to size up the situation, she finally dares to confront him in the pagoda where the killings took place thirty years ago. Accompanied by her friend's voiceover and the sounds of traditional music, a story unfurls about fear, oppression and terror. Tranquil images of the lush Cambodian landscape and the beautiful pointed buildings contrast with the facts presented by Sok Chea. It is almost inconceivable that at this subdued place such brutal violence took place. And Karoby, trying to restore his damaged karma by working as a medicine man and an attendant at cremations, hardly looks like the monster Sok Chea described. Still, her story is apparently based on true facts. DEACON OF DEATH won the Golden Calf for Best Feature-length Documentary at the 2004 Netherlands Film Festival.