''Meeting with Pol Pot'' (

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: ''Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot'') is a 2024

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

co-written and directed by

Rithy Panh Rithy Panh (; born April 18, 1964) is a Cambodian documentary film director, author and screenwriter. The French-schooled director's films focus on the aftermath of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. His works are from an authorit ...

. Starring

Irène Jacob Irène Marie Jacob (born 15 July 1966) is a French-Swiss actress known for her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. She won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the Kieślowski film '' The Double Life of V ...

Grégoire Colin Grégoire Colin (born 25 July 1975) is a French actor. Career Grégoire started acting on the French stage at age 12. He first caught the eye of critics in the 1992 Agnieszka Holland's psychological family drama '' Olivier, Olivier'' when he was ...

and Cyril Gueï. It is partially based on real events and on the book '' When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution'' by Elizabeth Becker. ''Meeting with Pol Pot'' had its world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on 16 May 2024 in the Cannes Premiere section. The film was selected as the Cambodian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the

97th Academy Awards The 97th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly r ...

, but was not nominated.

Synopsis

Democratic Kampuchea Democratic Kampuchea was the official name of the Cambodian state from 1976 to 1979, under the government of Pol Pot and the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), commonly known as the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge's capture of the capital Phno ...

(

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

) -- 1978. Three French journalists are invited by the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

to conduct an exclusive interview of the regime's leader,

Pol Pot Pol Pot (born Saloth Sâr; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian politician, revolutionary, and dictator who ruled the communist state of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976 until Cambodian–Vietnamese War, his overthrow in 1979. During ...

. The country seems ideal. But behind the

Potemkin village In politics and economics, a Potemkin village (Russian: ) is a construction (literal or figurative) whose purpose is to provide an external façade to a situation, to make people believe that the situation is better than it actually is. The term ...

, the Khmer Rouge regime is declining and the war with Vietnam threatens to invade the country. The regime is looking for culprits, secretly carrying out a large scale

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

. Under the eyes of the journalists, the beautiful picture cracks, revealing the horror. Their journey progressively turns into a nightmare.

Cast

as Lise Delbo *

as Alain Cariou * Cyril Gueï as Paul Thomas * Bun-Hok Lim as Camarade Sung * Somaline Mao as

Ieng Thirith Ieng Thirith (née Khieu; ; 10 March 1932 – 22 August 2015) was an influential intellectual and politician in the Khmer Rouge, although she was neither a member of the Khmer Rouge Standing Committee nor of the Central Committee. Ieng Thirith ...

* Sovann Nhoeb as Chan * Paov Pitu as

Ta Mok Ta Mok (; born Chhit Choeun, ; 1924 – 21 July 2006), also known as Nguon Kang, was a Cambodian military chief and soldier who was a senior figure in the Khmer Rouge and the leader of the national army of Democratic Kampuchea. He was also kn ...

* Siden In as Chef d'atelier * Sophourn Has as

Ieng Sary Ieng Sary (; born Kim Trang; 24 October 1925 – 14 March 2013) was the co-founder and senior member of the Khmer Rouge and one of the main architects of the Cambodian genocide. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Par ...

* Tithya Nouhem as The interpreter * Sok Sothun as The Old Man * Sokong Heng as Sikoeurn *

(voice/silhouette) (uncredited)

Release

It had its world premiere on May 16, 2024, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, then was released on June 5, 2024, in French theaters and on August 9, 2024, in Cambodian theaters.

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, 90% of 10 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10.

References

External links