Les Artistes du Théãtre Brûlé
Director Rithy Panh
Countries France
Duration 85 min
Synopsis
Cambodia is a land of lost dreams. There are neither cinemas, nor theatres, nor concert halls. The traditional performing arts are disappearing, made irrelevant by television. But there are still artists. Trustees of a tradition that they cannot maintain for lack of institutions, bank funding, and places to put on shows, they are condemned to misery or to putting on folklore entertainment for tourists. This film originates from the idea of bringing together a group of actors to work on a project that depicts the reality lived in Cambodia: there is something within these people – dignity, identity – that is becoming undone, in a process of memory loss.
Cambodia is a land of lost dreams. There are neither cinemas, nor theatres, nor concert halls. The traditional performing arts are disappearing, made irrelevant by television. But there are still artists. Trustees of a tradition that they cannot maintain for lack of institutions, bank funding, and places to put on shows, they are condemned to misery or to putting on folklore entertainment for tourists. This film originates from the idea of bringing together a group of actors to work on a project that depicts the reality lived in Cambodia: there is something within these people – dignity, identity – that is becoming undone, in a process of memory loss.