#rob lemkin

Some stories are worth risking your life for, and this is the case for the continued investigation of the Khmer Rouge and their infamous Killing Fields genocide. Cambodian journalist and filmmaker Thet Sambath is currently working on a follow-up to the incredibly moving and eye-opening documentary Enemies of the People, which he co-directed with Rob Lemkin, and he's reportedly in peril as a result. At the moment he has suspended shooting because of health concerns likely induced by stress, according to The Guardian.

Tentatively titled Suspicious Minds, the new doc pursues an answer to why the atrocities happened, since Enemies took care of the what, where and how. Sambath's findings are so far quite revealing, and there seem to be implications of guilt beyond what has previously been understood and accepted. For instance, the film argues that much of the killings were not in fact masterminded by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, but were instead the work of other party members in efforts to oust the dictator from office.

"The real story is politically huge," Sambath told The Guardian. "It will make everyone in Cambodia come out and talk, and the government will have to explain why they lied."

Enemies of the People