Film

Meeting with Pol Pot

Meeting with Pol Pot is a 2024 drama by Rithy Panh about three French journalists who visit Democratic Kampuchea in 1978 at the Khmer Rouge's invitation.[1][2] Its French title is Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot.[1]

Film poster: three figures stand on a dusty airstrip under a pale sky, with the title in large green letters.
Poster for Meeting with Pol Pot (2024).

Synopsis

The journalists accept a risky invitation to tour the countryside and interview Pol Pot.[3] As they see through the regime's propaganda and witness its brutality, the journey turns dangerous, and they struggle to report the truth.[4][3] Irène Jacob plays Lise Delbo, Grégoire Colin plays Alain Cariou and Cyril Gueï plays Paul Thomas.[5] Bun-Hok Lim plays Sung, and Somaline Mao plays Ieng Thirith.[5][1] Panh himself appears as Pol Pot in the journalists' meeting with the leader.[1]

The story is fiction, loosely based on Elizabeth Becker's book When the War Was Over.[6][7] Becker, Richard Dudman and Malcolm Caldwell interviewed Pol Pot on December 22, 1978.[6] Irène Jacob plays the character based on Becker.[7]

Production and credits

Panh and Pierre Erwan Guillaume wrote the screenplay, and Becker's book is credited as its source.[1][8] Catherine Dussart, Roger Huang and Justine O produced it, through Anupheap Productions and CDP.[1][8] Aymerick Pilarski and Mesa Prum were the cinematographers, Panh and Matthieu Laclau edited it, and Marc Marder composed the music.[1] The film combines reenactments, historical footage and a large model filled with small figures.[1] It was shot in Cambodia, is a co-production of Cambodia, France, Turkey, Taiwan and Qatar, and is in French and Khmer.[7][8][1]

Release and reception

The film premiered on May 16, 2024, in the Cannes Première section of the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival.[6][7] It opened in French theaters on June 5, 2024, and in Cambodian theaters on August 9, 2024.[5][7] Cambodia submitted it in the Best International Feature Film category for the 97th Academy Awards, and it was not among the five nominees.[7][9] In 2025 it received three nominations at the Asian Film Awards.[8] Strand Releasing distributes it in the United States.[1]

The film had its North American premiere at the 2025 Palm Springs International Film Festival.[3] At the 2025 Cambodia Town Film Festival in Long Beach, it screened with the opening ceremony on September 13, followed by a question-and-answer session with Becker moderated by Dorothy Chow of the Death in Cambodia podcast.[4]

References 9
  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Seattle International Film Festival, Meeting with Pol Pot (2025)
  2. ↑ Film-Forward, Meeting with Pol Pot (June 16, 2025)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Palm Springs International Film Festival, Meeting with Pol Pot (2025)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cambodia Town Film Festival, Meeting with Pol Pot + CTFF Opening Ceremony (Ticket Tailor)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Offi, Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Festival de Cannes, Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot, une fiction au service de la mémoire (May 16, 2024)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, "Meeting with Pol Pot", a film by director Rithy Panh, has been chosen to represent Cambodia in the competition for Best International Feature Film at the 2025 Academy Awards (August 30, 2024)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 FilmAffinity, Meeting With Pol Pot (2024)
  9. ↑ Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The 97th Academy Awards, 2025
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This page was last edited on 22 October 2026, at 03:08.