Cambodia: Looking Back on the Future

8:00 pm / Cole Auditorium, Greenwich Library

In this Academy Award nominated film, filmmaker Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.

On April 17, 1975, the day the Khmer Rouge seized the capital, Phnom Penh, the 13-year-old Rithy Panh, his family, and millions more were driven from that city and other towns and villages, and straight into hell. Four years later, many of his relatives including his father, mother, sisters, and a niece and nephew, were dead. Decades later, Mr. Panh, now a filmmaker, has told his story in this movie in which the act of remembrance serves as a form of resistance.

The Flinn Gallery will be open for Art Lounge prior to the film, from 6:00 – 7:45 pm

3:30 pm / Cole Auditorium, Greenwich Library

This concert showcases the breadth of Cambodian music, from popular mahaori songs, to music used for weddings and dance performances, to the innovative ways some musicians are experimenting with musical traditions. In Cambodia and Cambodian-American communities in the United States, music is used during festivals, ceremonies, and rites of passage, and it is also linked with Cambodians’ national and personal identities. Between songs, the performers will explain the meaning and symbolism as well as their own personal associations with the music. This concert presents a vivid snapshot of Cambodia’s music and the numerous ways in which these musical traditions are linked with people’s lives.

The instruments that will be used during the performance are: Khim (hammer dulcimer), Takay (zither), Roneat (xylophone), Tro Sao (2-stringed fiddle), Sko Dae (hand drum), and the Kse Diev (monochord zither).

1:30 pm / Second Floor Meeting Room, Greenwich Library

The subtle and codified expressions of emotions, politics, sexuality, and other taboo subjects are well established in the arts, but are not always obvious to visitors. This talk will take examples from pop culture, literature and contemporary art that are subversive and mischievous. This mechanism is especially applied to critical and political commentary, and may become increasingly necessary with the threat of a new censorship law.

3:00 pm / Second Floor Meeting Room, Greenwich Library

Based on the life of Cambodian peace advocate Arn Chorn-Pond, Never Fall Down is the story of how one Cambodian boy survived the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime. Only eleven when the Khmer Rouge invades his hometown, Arn is forced into slave labor, and his life for the next four years (1975-1979) is a nightmare of suffering, deprivation, and death. National Book Award finalist Patricia McCormick has seamlessly interwoven fact and fiction to create a powerfully unforgettable story of war and survival.

Talk by Arn Chorn-Pond and author Patricia McCormick.

11:00 am / Flinn Gallery, Greenwich Library

Sitting in a clearly defined circle of cloth on the floor, Amy will break a traditional clay pot and meticulously glue it back together. This breaking and remaking brings attention to cycles of trauma, both personal and historical. Single Break Pot is a meditative and introspective performance, one that reflects the slow, complex process of mending and transforming. For the artist, the physical and mental challenge of maintaining the concentration and patience to carry out the task is an integral part of the piece.

AND

3:00 pm / Cole Auditorium, Greenwich Library

This panel discussion will explore the context of artists and culture in Cambodia today. At the end of the Khmer Rouge period, when nearly 90% of Cambodia’s artists were lost, the urgency of recovering Cambodia’s rich artistic culture was a priority. Finding those remaining artists and passing on Cambodia’s traditions to the next generation was a heroic effort. Now, some thirty years later, a new generation of Cambodian artists is working in new directions, creating a contemporary palette that often mixes references of the traditional and the modern, history and future.

Moderator: Rachel Cooper; Panelists: Dana Langlois, Phloeun Prim, Amy Lee Sanford and Toni Shapiro-Phim

2:00 / Second Floor Meeting Room, Greenwich Library

During the 60’s and early 70’s, as the war in Vietnam threatened its borders, a new music scene emerged in Cambodia that took Western rock and roll and stood it on its head – creating a sound like no other. Cambodian musicians crafted this sound from the various rock music styles sweeping America, England and France, adding the unique melodies and hypnotic rhythms of their traditional music.

Through the eyes, words and songs of its popular music stars of the 50s, 60s and 70s, Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll examines and unravels Cambodia’s tragic past, culminating in the genocidal Khmer Rouge’s dismantling of the society and murder of two million of its citizens. Combining interviews of the surviving Cambodian musicians themselves with never-before-seen archival material and rare songs, this documentary tracks the twists and turns of Cambodian music as it morphs into rock and roll, blossoms, and is nearly destroyed along with the rest of the country.

Q&A with Filmmaker John Pirozzi following the film