Enemies of the People (film)

An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, a radical communist movement which was led by Pol Pot. The victims included Thet Sambath's mother, father and brother. He says he did not understand why the Khmer Rouge unleashed such violence on their compatriots. In 1999, he decided to seek confessions and explanations from former Khmer Rouge officials who previously served the Khmer Rouge at all levels of the organization. None of them had previously admitted their role in any of the killings.{{cite news|title=Perpetrator's Perspective: Befriending the Khmer Rouge|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11968144|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News|access-date=4 July 2011|date=12 December 2010}}

In 2001, he met Nuon Chea, Pol Pot's deputy, also known as Brother Number Two. Nuon Chea was then living as a private citizen in Prum, a small town on the Thai-Cambodian border. Sambath visited Nuon Chea during most weekends for around three years.{{cite news|last=Mydans|first=Seth|title=In a Cambodian Friendship, a Secret Quest|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/world/asia/07cambo.html?_r=1|work=The New York Times|access-date=4 July 2011|date=6 August 2010}}

During that time, Nuon Chea was willing to talk about all of the phases of his political career except the three-and-a-half years of the Khmer Rouge's rule of Cambodia. He had previously been interviewed by Western and Japanese journalists but he had always denied his responsibility for the killing of people which the Khmer Rouge committed in the Cambodian genocide.

In 2004, Nuon Chea made his first admission to Sambath concerning decisions to kill that he made with Pol Pot.{{cite magazine|last=Brady|first=Brendan|title=Khmer Rouge: Close Up|url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,2009043,00.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914113152/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,2009043,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 September 2012|magazine=Time|access-date=23 April 2018|date=6 August 2010}} Sambath continued to interview Nuon Chea on his role in the Killing Fields for three more years. During that time the United Nations-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was constituted to investigate the alleged crimes of Democratic Kampuchea. Sambath interviewed Nuon Chea until September 2007 when the latter was arrested and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ECCC.

During the same period, Sambath also built up a network of less senior former Khmer Rouge officials and cadres who were prepared to acknowledge and detail their role in the Killing Fields.{{cite news|last=Leitsinger|first=Miranda|title=Filmmaker tracks Khmer Rouge killers to learn the truth|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/07/25/cambodia.khmer.rouge.filmmaker/index.html?hpt=C1#fbid=ggGe0uu09iZ&wom=false|publisher=CNN|access-date=4 July 2011|date=26 July 2010}} The film focuses on two Khmer Rouge perpetrators in the northwest of Cambodia. Khoun and Suon take Sambath to the scene of their massacres and introduce him to their superior officer, a woman who is known as Sister "Em". They give graphic accounts of the massacres they perpetrated. They also give voice to their own feelings of guilt, trauma and remorse.{{cite news|last=McDowell|first=Robin|title=Former Khmer Rouge talk about massacres in new doc|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100803/as-khmer-rouge-search-for-truth/|publisher=Oath|work=HuffPost|access-date=4 July 2011|date=3 August 2010}} Towards the end of the film, Sambath brings Khoun and Suon to meet Nuon Chea and the three former Khmer Rouge comrades try to fathom the lethal history which each of them played a part in.

Throughout his three years of research, Sambath chose not to tell Nuon Chea about his family's fate in Democratic Kampuchea. At the end of the film and just before Nuon Chea's arrest, Sambath tells the whole story to the former Khmer Rouge leader.{{cite news|last=McCargo|first=Duncan|title=Film-makers and Cambodia|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/asiaview/2010/07/film-makers_and_cambodia|website=The Economist|date=30 July 2010}}{{cite web|last=Kong|first=Rithdee|title=Revisiting the Reign of Terror|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/family/235267/revisiting-the-reign-of-terror|website=Bangkok Post|access-date=4 July 2011}}

The film also features appearances by Pol Pot, U.S. President Richard Nixon and Deng Yingchao, the widow of Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.

Enemies of the People was written, directed and filmed by Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, who worked on the film together from September 2006 until November 2009.

The film was edited in London by Lemkin and film editor Stefan Ronowicz. The score was composed by Daniel Pemberton.

The film's world premiere was at the 2009 International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA). The film was slightly altered for its U.S. premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

It was released theatrically in the U.S. by International Film Circuit on 31 July 2011 and went on to play in more than 40 American cities. It has also been theatrically released in Great Britain, Thailand and the former Yugoslavia. It is the first Cambodian film to be released in Thailand in 40 years.{{cite web|last=Extra Virgin|title=Director's Screen|url=http://www.extravirginco.com/directors-screen.html|publisher=Extra Virgin|access-date=4 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515113449/http://www.extravirginco.com/directors-screen.html|archive-date=15 May 2011|url-status=dead}} Pimpaka Towira, managing director of Thai distributor Extra Virgin, said her decision to release the film was difficult at a time when Thailand and Cambodia were engaged in a military conflict.{{cite web|last=Wise|first=Kwai|title=Keeping Enemies Closer|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/05/21/life/Keeping-enemies-closer-30155796.html|publisher=National Multimedia|access-date=4 July 2011|archive-date=15 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615042939/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/05/21/life/Keeping-enemies-closer-30155796.html|url-status=dead}}

It has also played more than 80 film festivals worldwide.

Its US television premiere was in the PBS documentary series POV on 12 July 2011.{{cite web |last=POV |title=Unprecedented Investigation into Cambodia's "Killing Fields" |url=http://www.amdoc.org/pressmaterials/2011/pov_enemiesofthepeople_release.pdf |publisher=POV |access-date=4 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628105516/http://www.amdoc.org/pressmaterials/2011/pov_enemiesofthepeople_release.pdf |archive-date=28 June 2011 |df=dmy }}

It has not yet been granted a distribution licence by the Cambodian government, although the film has been shown occasionally at an arthouse cinema in Phnom Penh.{{cite web|last=Pich|first=Samnang|title=No Widespread Release Yet for 'Enemies of the People'|url=http://www.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/No-Widespread-Release-Yet-for-Enemies-of-the-People---99031229.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724210756/http://www1.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/No-Widespread-Release-Yet-for-Enemies-of-the-People---99031229.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 July 2010|publisher=Voice of America|access-date=4 July 2011}} In interviews, the filmmakers have speculated that this is because the history is still too sensitive for the current Cambodian government.{{cite web|last=Jared|first=Ferrie|title=Brother Number Two's Censored Revelations|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LH06Ae01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807003725/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LH06Ae01.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=7 August 2010|website=Asia Times Online|access-date=4 July 2011}}

{{main|Khmer Rouge Tribunal}}

Following the European and American premieres{{cite web|last=Raynaldy|first=Romain|title=Khmer Rouge Killing machine explored at Sundance|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hxAqkzuIko4lli9noOOAtrQduUGQ|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113023212/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hxAqkzuIko4lli9noOOAtrQduUGQ|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 November 2010|publisher=AFP|access-date=4 July 2011}} of the film, the co-investigating judge Marcel Lemonde requested the use of the film as evidence in the case he was investigating against Nuon Chea.

The filmmakers declined to depose the film with the court on the basis that it would be a breach of the understanding reached with all Khmer Rouge sources.{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Andrew|title=Journalists must never betray a source, even a mass murderer|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/journalists-must-never-betray-a-source-even-a-mass-murderer-2145547.html|work=The Independent|access-date=4 July 2011|location=London|date=28 November 2010}} All sources were happy for any and all material to be put in the public domain, but only on the basis that neither filmmaker was an officer or agent of the court. The filmmakers were widely criticised for not handing over their material to the court.{{cite web|last=O'Toole|first=James|title=Phnom Penh Post: Judges Unable to get KR film|url=http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/images/CTM/4_19_10%20judges%20unable%20to%20get%20kr%20film.pdf|website=Phnom Penh Post|access-date=4 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005051758/http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/images/CTM/4_19_10%20judges%20unable%20to%20get%20kr%20film.pdf|archive-date=5 October 2011|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|last=James|first=O'Toole|title=Phnom Penh Post: Documentary Co-Producer defends dealings with Tribunal|url=http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/images/CTM/4_21_10%20documentary%20film%20coproducer%20defends%20dealings%20with%20tribunal.pdf|publisher=Phnom Penh|access-date=4 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005051811/http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/images/CTM/4_21_10%20documentary%20film%20coproducer%20defends%20dealings%20with%20tribunal.pdf|archive-date=5 October 2011|url-status=dead}} On 9 April 2010, the court issued an Order stating that it would not seek to obtain the material by international rogatory letter but instead wait until the material came into the public domain and seek to use it in the trial then.{{cite web|title=Order on Co-Prosecutor Request for Investigative Action regarding Nuon Chea's interviews and the film 'Enemies of the People'.|url=http://www.eccc.gov.kh/en/document/court/order-co-prosecutors39-request-investigative-action-regarding-interviews-nuon-chea-an|publisher=ECCC|access-date=4 July 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052607/http://www.eccc.gov.kh/en/document/court/order-co-prosecutors39-request-investigative-action-regarding-interviews-nuon-chea-an|url-status=dead}}

On 27 June 2011, the trial of Case 002 against Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith began in Phnom Penh. A number of newspaper reports raised the issue of the use of the film in the trial. The prosecution told Agence France Presse that it wanted the "candid admissions" to be used in the trial. Thet Sambath speculated that Nuon Chea might not make the same admissions during the trial, saying, "Before the court he may say something else. But what he told me was the truth."{{cite web|last=Suy|first=Se|title=Court denied KRouge leader's film confession|url=http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110626/ennew_afp/cambodiauntrialfilm|publisher=AFP|access-date=4 July 2011}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In July 2010, the Cambodian government declined to give the film a permit for distribution in Cambodia. Sin Chin Chaya, Director of the Ministry of Culture's Cinema Department, said this was because the film was not in Khmer.{{cite web|last=Pich|first=Samnang|title=No Widespread Release Yet for 'Enemies of the People'|url=http://www.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/No-Widespread-Release-Yet-for-Enemies-of-the-People---99031229.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724210756/http://www1.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/No-Widespread-Release-Yet-for-Enemies-of-the-People---99031229.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 July 2010|publisher=Voice of America|access-date=4 July 2011}} In fact, much of the film is in Khmer. Many Phnom Penh cinema owners told VOA they were keen to exhibit the film, but needed official permission.{{cite web|last=Ferrie|first=Jared|title=Brother Number Two's Censored Revelations|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LH06Ae01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807003725/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LH06Ae01.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=7 August 2010|website=Asia Times Online|access-date=4 July 2011}}

The film made its Phnom Penh premiere at the German-owned arthouse cinema Meta House on 21 July 2010.{{cite web|last=Grant|first=James|title=Enemies of the People@Meta House|url=http://www.asialifeguide.com/July-2010/enemies-of-the-people-meta-house.htm|access-date=4 July 2011}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The screening was attended by staff from the court, journalists, NGO workers and politicians including Mu Sochua.{{cite web|last=Grant|first=James|title=Enemies of the People@Meta House|url=http://www.asialifeguide.com/July-2010/enemies-of-the-people-meta-house.htm|access-date=4 July 2011}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Despite its limited release, the film has generated a level of discussion about the Khmer Rouge that is rare in Cambodia.{{cite news|last=Roasa|first=Dustin|title=Cambodians Take Hard Self-Look|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-nov-28-la-ca-cambodian-films-20101128-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=4 July 2011|date=28 November 2010}}

In March 2011, Sin Chin Chaya told The Wall Street Journal that the permit had not yet been issued because a "formal permission request" had not been submitted. He remarked that since the Khmer Rouge trial was now underway, the decision to approve was at the ministerial level.{{cite news|last=Barta|first=Patrick|title=An Unblinking Look at Cambodia's Past|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2011/03/11/the-story-behind-cambodias-enemies-of-the-people/|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=4 July 2011|date=11 March 2011}}

In January 2010, as a sidebar to the Sundance Film Festival premieres, Sambath and Lemkin showed excerpts of the film to a group of Cambodians living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Many in the audience were refugees from the Killing Fields. Several expressed surprise at their own reactions. Instead of feeling anger and hatred of the perpetrators featured, they had feelings of compassion and forgiveness.{{cite web|last=Falk|first=Aaron|title=Film on Cambodia Sparks Forgiveness|date=25 January 2010|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705360826/Film-on-Cambodia-sparks-forgiveness.html?linkTrack=rss-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429004900/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705360826/Film-on-Cambodia-sparks-forgiveness.html?linkTrack=rss-30|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 April 2010|website=The Deseret News|access-date=5 July 2011}}

Thousands of Cambodians living abroad especially in the U.S. have watched the film. The film was shown in Long Beach, the largest urban Cambodian population outside of Phnom Penh, in September 2010. Due to the film's sensitive nature, the United Cambodian Community organised a pre-screening meeting to prepare elderly survivors of the Killing Fields for what they would see.{{cite web|last=Mellen|first=Greg|title=Documentary showing in Long Beach on Saturday looks at perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge genocide|url=http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_16025383?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com|website=Long Beach Press Telegram|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-date=24 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324082319/http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_16025383?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com|url-status=dead}} The US's second largest Cambodian population, in Lowell, Massachusetts saw the film in November 2010.{{cite journal|last=Kurczy|first=Stephen|title=Khmer Rouge Film Spurs Cambodians worldwide to revisit buried history|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2010/1119/Khmer-Rouge-film-spurs-Cambodians-worldwide-to-revisit-buried-history|journal=The Christian Science Monitor|date=19 November 2010|access-date=5 July 2011}} Another large diaspora community in Minneapolis also saw the film in November.{{cite web|last=Larissa Peifer|first=Eliana Grawer and|title=Documentary on Cambodian Genocide shown in Minneapolis.|url=http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2010/12/12/documentary-cambodian-genocide-shown-minneapolis|website=The Twin Cities Daily Planet|access-date=5 July 2011}} The film is reported to have galvanised "the diaspora to reexamine their country's history and to rethink how to bring reconciliation to the war-torn nation."{{cite journal|last=Kurczy|first=Stephen|title=Khmer Rouge Film Spurs Cambodians worldwide to revisit buried history|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2010/1119/Khmer-Rouge-film-spurs-Cambodians-worldwide-to-revisit-buried-history|journal=The Christian Science Monitor|date=19 November 2010|access-date=5 July 2011}}{{cite news|last=Appelbaum|first=Stephen|title=New Film Offers Hope|url=http://www.scotsman.com/movies/A-new-film-on-the.6645442.jp?articlepage=2|newspaper=The Scotsman|access-date=5 July 2011}}

Sambath and Lemkin have attended scores of screenings and live film discussions in Asia, Europe and the United States. At the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, they participated in a panel on social justice and documentary entitled "Speaking Truth to Power".{{cite web|last=Masterson|first=Chase|title=Creative Coalition and Social Justice events heat up the dance|url=http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/2010/01/29/creative-coalition-social-justice-events-heat-up-the-dance/|website=Hollywood Today|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031033302/http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/2010/01/29/creative-coalition-social-justice-events-heat-up-the-dance/|archive-date=31 October 2011|url-status=dead}}

In October 2010, Sambath and Lemkin organised an unprecedented dialogue between survivors of the Killing Fields living in California and three former Khmer Rouge perpetrators.{{cite web|last=Mellen|first=Greg|title=Killing Fields documentary offers chance for reconciliation|url=http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_16341201?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com|website=The Long Beach Press Telegram|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-date=24 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324082324/http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_16341201?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com|url-status=dead}} All three had appeared in the film. Khoun, Suon and Choeun travelled to Bangkok in Thailand with Sambath for a live 3 hour discussion held via videoconference with the refugees who attended a legal office in Long Beach, California for the event. According to Lemkin, it was "an end of the Cold War moment. [The victims] have seen the perpetrators as monsters for 30 years. I think they saw that they were just people."{{cite web|last=Mellen|first=Greg|title=Killing Fields Refugees see their attackers|url=http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_16373890?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com|website=The Long Beach Press Telegram|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-date=24 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324082345/http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_16373890?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com|url-status=dead}}

On 15 December 2010, the Los Angeles Times published a feature by Joe Mozingo entitled "Coming to terms with Sadism" which told the story of one man's experience of the October videoconference. Long Beach resident Bo Uce was 4 years old when the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975. He lost several members of his family in the Killing Fields. Uce stated he believed he achieved a "certain peace" in watching the film and then engaging with the perpetrators in the videoconference.{{cite news|last=Mozingo|first=Joe|title=Coming to terms with Sadism|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-dec-15-la-me-bo-20101215-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=5 July 2011|date=15 December 2010}}

{{globalize|2 = United States of America|date=November 2020}}

Enemies of the People holds a 100% fresh rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 8.15/10.{{cite web|title=Enemies of the People (2010)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/enemies-of-the-people/|publisher=Fandango Media|work=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=1 July 2019}}

Andrew Marr host of BBC Radio 4's Start The Week programme called Enemies of the People "a stunning film – one of the most amazing films I've seen ... it's one of the most gripping and moving films I have ever seen."{{cite web|last=Marr|first=Andrew|title=Start The Week|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rdvr0#synopsis|publisher= BBC|access-date=5 July 2011}}

Stephen Holden of The New York Times reviewed the film twice. In his first review, he called it "an inspiring film."{{cite news|last=Holden|first=Stephen|title=Horror and Injustice Play Starring Roles|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/movies/11human.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=5 July 2011|date=11 June 2010}} In his second review, he wrote, "Enemies of the People is extraordinary on several fronts. At times, Mr. Thet Sambath suggests a one-man Cambodian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Instead of affixing blame, he seeks the healing power of confession."{{cite news|last=Holden|first=Stephen|title=From the Killing Fields, on a Mission of Truth|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/movies/30enemies.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=5 July 2011|date=29 July 2010}}

Andrew Schenker in the Village Voice noted an antecedent in Holocaust cinema: "Taking in Enemies of the People is a little like watching a Cambodian Shoah, but as if we had access to the director's methods and motivations instead of just the astonishing results."{{cite web|last=Schenker|first=Andrew|title=Enemies of the People finds truth in the Killing Fields|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/content/printVersion/1943081/|website=The Village Voice|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-date=22 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022184627/http://www.villagevoice.com/content/printVersion/1943081/|url-status=dead}}

Diego Costa in Slant Magazine concentrated on the film's journey into the psychological dimension of the violence: "This is an extraordinary historical document, an archive of confessions with potential for closure, atonement, and belated punishment from one single man on a mission."{{cite web|last=Costa|first=Diego|title=Enemies of the People review|date=26 July 2010 |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/enemies-of-the-people/4910|website=Slant Magazine|access-date=5 July 2011}}

Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times found the film "fascinating," writing, "How the genial Sambath remains so circumspect throughout his taut sessions with Chea is remarkable, as is so much of this must-see exposé."{{cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Gary|title=Movie Review: Enemies of the People|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-aug-06-la-et-review-enemies-of-the-people-0806-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=5 July 2011|date=6 August 2010}}

Elliot V. Kotek in Moving Pictures wrote: "The slow, painful truth is fully revealed in this burning documentary crafted courageously by Sambath and his co-director Lemkin."{{cite web|last=Kotek|first=Elliot V.|title=Enemies of the People (documentary)|url=http://www.movingpicturesnetwork.com/11775/enemies-of-the-people-documentary-2/|publisher=The Moving Pictures Network|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320130904/http://www.movingpicturesnetwork.com/11775/enemies-of-the-people-documentary-2/|archive-date=20 March 2012|url-status=dead}}

In the Financial Times, film critic Nigel Andrews gives the film four out of five stars and sees it in the context of Vietnam War cinema. "War crimes cinema gets a new wrinkle, or scar of honour, in Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath's enthralling investigative documentary. Shades of Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, as this new Kurtz is tracked to his lair. For Conrad and Coppola the landscape traversed was a jungle. Here it is a jungle of the mind."{{cite news|last=Andrews|first=Nigel|title=Film Releases: December 10|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9c2c7a44-02ee-11e0-bb1e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1R8ZEYo4d|newspaper=The Financial Times|date=8 December 2010|access-date=5 July 2011}} In a review from Sundance, the same critic wrote:"If vengeance is a dish best served cold, this dish is at once cold and scalding hot."{{cite news|last=Andrews|first=Nigel|title=The Road to Reinvention|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8aa342d6-0a19-11df-8b23-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1#axzz1R8ZEYo4d|newspaper=The Financial Times|access-date=5 July 2011}}

Derek Malcolm in This is London wrote: "This astonishing documentary by Cambodian journalist Thet Sambath, whose entire family was killed by the Khmer Rouge, gets as near as anyone has done to discovering how and why the killing fields happened."{{cite web|last=Malcolm|first=Derek|title=True Story of the Killing Fields in Enemies of the People|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/film/review-23906003-tue-story-of-the-killing-fields-in-enemies-of-the-people.do|website=This is London|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110406180216/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/film/review-23906003-tue-story-of-the-killing-fields-in-enemies-of-the-people.do|archive-date=6 April 2011|url-status=dead}}

Derek Adams of Time Out gives the film five out of five stars: "This is patient, persistent, probing and fearless journalism of the highest order and it shocks to the core."{{cite web|last=Adams|first=Derek|title=Enemies of the People|date=7 December 2010 |url=https://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/88404/enemies-of-the-people.html|website=Time Out|access-date=5 July 2011}}

David Parkinson in Radio Times sounds a note of caution: "The methodology employed by Thet and co-director Rob Lemkin is occasionally manipulative and the truth often remains elusive. But this is absolutely compelling, nonetheless."{{cite web|last=Parkinson|first=David|title=Enemies of the People|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/servlet_film/com.icl.beeb.rtfilms.client.simpleSearchServlet?searchTypeSelect=5&frn=50338|website=The Radio Times|access-date=5 July 2011}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

David Edwards in The Daily Mirror is moved by the film's denouement: "The moment when Sambath reveals the price his own family paid is stirring stuff."{{cite news|last=Edwards|first=David|title=Timely documentary on Cambodia's killing fields|date=10 December 2010|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/columnists/david-edwards/2010/12/10/enemies-of-the-people-film-review-a-timely-documentary-on-cambodia-s-killing-fields-115875-22773673/|newspaper=The Daily Mirror|access-date=5 July 2011}}

Ron Wilkinson in Monsters and Critics pays tribute to the journalism, writing: "One of the most amazing investigative documentary films of all time. The interviews are few but of the highest quality."{{cite web|last=Wilkinson|first=Ron|title=Enemies of the People: Movie Review|url=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/movies/reviews/article_1574905.php/Enemies-of-the-People-%E2%80%93-Movie-Review|website=Monsters and Critics|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-date=6 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806095049/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/movies/reviews/article_1574905.php/Enemies-of-the-People-%E2%80%93-Movie-Review|url-status=dead}}

Jared Ferrie focuses on the probative and forensic value of the journalism in The Christian Science Monitor: "In the film, Nuon admits publicly, for the first time, that he ordered the killing of thousands of political opponents, which is probably evidence enough to convict him for war crimes – if he ever makes it to trial."{{cite journal|last=Ferrie|first=Jared|title=From Cambodia's Killing Fields to New York, a new film confronts Khmer Rouge|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0730/From-Cambodia-s-Killing-Fields-to-New-York-a-new-film-confronts-Khmer-Rouge|journal=The Christian Science Monitor|date=30 July 2010|access-date=5 July 2011}}

Patrick Barta in The Wall Street Journal found it to be "not only … a historical document, but also … a work of art in its own right."{{cite news|last=Barta|first=Patrick|title=An Unblinking Look at Cambodia's Past|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2011/03/11/the-story-behind-cambodias-enemies-of-the-people/|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=5 July 2011|date=11 March 2011}}

• 2010: Sundance Film Festival World Jury Special Prize
• 2010: True/False Film Festival True Life Award
• 2010: Santa Barbara International Film Festival Best Documentary
• 2010: Santa Barbara International Film Festival Social Justice Award
• 2010: Vera Film Festival, Finland Best Documentary
• 2010: One World Festival (Prague) Grand Jury Prize
• 2010: Full Frame Festival Anne Dellinger Grand Jury Award
• 2010: Full Frame Festival Charles E Guggenheim Emerging Artist
• 2010: Hong Kong International Film Festival Outstanding Documentary Award
• 2010: Beldocs, Belgrade Best Documentary Award
• 2010: OxDox (UK) Best Documentary Award
• 2010: Norwegian Documentary Festival Best Documentary Award
• 2010: Human Rights Watch Film Festival New York Nestor Almendros Award
• 2010: Kraków International Film Festival Silver Horn Award
• 2010: Jerusalem International Film Festival "In the Spirit of Freedom" Ostrovsky Award
• 2010: Dokufest Kosovo Human Rights Award
• 2010: Batumi International Art-House Film Festival Grand Prix
• 2010: Ojai Film Festival Best Documentary
• 2010: Moet British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) Best Documentary
• 2011: DocsBarcelona TV3 Human Rights Award
• 2011: DocEdge NZ Best International Feature
• 2011: DocEdge NZ Best Directing
• 2011: Makedox, Macedonia, Best Human Rights Presentation
• 2011: Makedox, Macedonia, Award for Best Moral Approach
• 2011: Knight International Journalism Award
• 2012: Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism (Long Form)http://www.icfj.org/ar/news/2011-knight-international-journalism-award-winner-receives-emmy-award {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}

• 2011: Writers Guild of America Best Documentary Screenplay
• 2009: International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA) Best Feature Documentary
• 2010: Grierson Award for Best Cinema Documentary

Enemies of the People was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2011.{{cite web |last=Willmore |first=Allison |title=Oscar Documentary Shortlist Has Arrived |url=http://www.ifc.com/news/2010/11/the-oscar-documentary-short-li.php |publisher=IFC.com |access-date=5 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903181035/http://www.ifc.com/news/2010/11/the-oscar-documentary-short-li.php |archive-date=3 September 2011 |df=dmy }} In 2012, the film won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism (Long Form).http://www.icfj.org/ar/news/2011-knight-international-journalism-award-winner-receives-emmy-award {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}

In June 2011, the U.S.-based International Center for Journalists announced that Thet Sambath was the recipient of its 2011 Knight International Journalism Award for his career achievement. In its press release the ICFJ called Enemies of the People "arguably the most important film about the Khmer Rouge."{{cite web|title=Reporters Investigating Drug Lords in Mexico and Pol Pot Atrocities in Cambodia to Receive Prestigious Journalism Award.|url=http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20110622/pl_usnw/DC24076|publisher=PR Newswire|access-date=5 July 2011}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ICFJ President and member of the jury Joyce Barnathan said Sambath's work was "an amazing, amazing journalistic feat".{{cite web|title=Thet Sambath: Uncovering the Secrets of the Pol Pot Regime |url=http://knight.icfj.org/Awards/2011AwardeebrThetSambath/tabid/1952/Default.aspx |publisher=International Center for Journalists |access-date=5 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710081748/http://www.knight.icfj.org/Awards/2011AwardeebrThetSambath/tabid/1952/Default.aspx |archive-date=10 July 2011 |df=dmy }}

Thet Sambath and Rob Lemkin have announced they are making a second film based on the material shot for their first film with new material being gathered from new Khmer Rouge sources. The film is entitled "Suspicious Minds" and will investigate the political conflict inside the Khmer Rouge movement that drove the violence.{{cite web |last=Wise |first=Kwai |title=Keeping Enemies Closer |url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/05/21/life/Keeping-enemies-closer-30155796.html |publisher=National Multimedia |access-date=5 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615042939/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/05/21/life/Keeping-enemies-closer-30155796.html |archive-date=15 June 2011 |df=dmy }} Lemkin has further stated this film will explain for the first time why the Killing Fields happened.{{cite web |title=A Conversation with Rob Lemkin Part 2. |url=http://www.tribecafilminstitute.org/blog/113212109.html |publisher=Tribeca Institute |access-date=5 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019220726/http://www.tribecafilminstitute.org/blog/113212109.html |archive-date=19 October 2011 |df=dmy }}

Sambath and Lemkin continue to blog on their researches, adding material on Nuon Chea's early career and Pol Pot's rise to power in the Khmer Rouge.{{cite web|title=Filmmakers' Blog|url=http://enemiesofthepeoplemovie.com/blog/|website=Enemies of the People Movie|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-date=10 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710192353/http://enemiesofthepeoplemovie.com/blog/|url-status=dead}}

In June 2011, they began to upload further interview excerpts with Nuon Chea. Topics so far include: revolution, killing traitors, confessions, smashing, Year Zero, the nation.{{cite web|title=Nuon Chea on Year Zero| date=29 June 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9UmvhsOzGE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/F9UmvhsOzGE |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|website=Enemies of the People Movie|access-date=5 July 2011}}{{cbignore}}

• Nuon Chea aka "Brother Number Two"
• Khoun
• Suon
• Sister "Em"

• Kang Kek Iew

{{reflist|2}}

• {{Official website|http://enemiesofthepeoplemovie.com/}}
• [https://www.facebook.com/enemiesofthepeople Official Facebook Fan Page]
• {{IMDb title|1568328|Enemies of the People}}
• {{Rotten-tomatoes|enemies-of-the-people|Enemies of the People}}
• {{TCMDb title|784448|Enemies of the People}}
• {{YouTube|KiO-kcYlgLs|Enemies of the People film trailer }}
• {{YouTube|CKVrGPR7SCw|Enemies of the People report on Sundance Award on Voice of America (VOA)}}
• [http://www.channel4.com/news/brother-number-two-sorry-for-cambodias-killing-fields Enemies of the People report on Channel Four (UK) News (originally broadcast 2010-12-12)]
• [https://www.pbs.org/pov/enemies/ Enemies of the People website on POV]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enemies Of The People (Film)}}

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