Red Wedding () is a 2012 documentary film co-directed by Lida Chan and Guillaume Suon, which portrays a victim of forced marriage under the Khmer Rouge regime.
The film premiered at the 2012 International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA) and won the Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary.
Synopsis Red Wedding is the story of a survivor who pits her humanity against an ideology and a system designed to annihilate people like her. Between 1975 and 1979, at least 250,000 Cambodian women were forced into marriages by the Khmer Rouge. Sochan was one of them. At the age of 16, she was forced to marry a soldier who raped her. After 30 years of silence, Sochan decided to bring her case to the international tribunal set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders.Anchalee Chaiworaporn, "Moving Up - Women Directors and South-east Asian Cinema," in Gabrielle Kelly and Cheryl Robson, eds., Celluloid Ceiling: Women Film Directors Breaking Through, London: Aurora Metro Books, 2014, 160–178 (175).
Production Red Wedding is a Cambodian-French co-production produced by Rithy Panh through Bophana Production, Bophana Center and Tipasa Production. It was produced with the support of GIZ, Alter-ciné Foundation, Fonds francophone de production audiovisuelle du Sud, IDFA Fund, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, Worldview and Cambodia Film Commission. Red Wedding is the first film about a victim of forced marriage and rape under the Khmer Rouge."Lens Sees Old Traum in a Contemporary Life". Michelle Vachon, Cambodia Daily, June 6, 2011. Lida Chan and Guillaume Suon's survey began in 2010 when forced marriages were qualified crimes against humanity by the Khmer Rouge tribunal. The film was shot in Pursat province, in Cambodia, between 2010 and 2012.
The film' is distributed by Women Make Movies,"Red Wedding: Women Under the Khmer Rouge". Women Make Movies website. Bophana Production and Tipasa Production.
Reception The film received critical and public acclaim in Cambodia and internationally."Red Wedding Shows Lasting Scars of Forced Marriage".Say Mony, VOA, June 6, 2011."Film reveals rape under KR regime". Roth Meas, Phnom Penh Post, June 7, 2011."Cambodian court to hear impact of forced marriages". Robert Carmichael, Radio Australia, June 10, 2011."Film shows brutality of Khmer Rouge's population policy". Robert Carmichael, Radio Australia, June 10, 2011."Cambodia coming to terms with thousands of forced marriages under Pol Pot". Robert Carmichael, Deutsche Welle, June 13, 2011."Un documentaire sur les mariages forcés Red wedding sous le régime khmer rouge". Stéphanie Gée, RFI, June 14, 2011."Les mariages forcés, crimes oubliés". Arnaud Dubus, Le Temps, June 25, 2011."A search for justice by the women forced to marry strangers". Robert Carmichael, The Independent, June 27, 2011."Mariages forcés : le crime oublié des Khmers rouges". Arnaud Dubus, Libération, June 28, 2011."The new golden generation". The new golden generation, Rosa Ellen, Phnom Penh Post, December 7, 2012."Noces rouges, entretien avec Guillaume Suon" . Mariona Vivar, Le Blog Documentaire, March 4, 2013."Au Cambodge sous Pol Pot, la mariée était en rouge". Sandra Titi-Fontaine, Rue 89 / InfoSud, March 8, 2013.
Awards Best Mid-Length Documentary - International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA) 2012"Winners awards IDFA 2012 announced" . IDFA website."Documentary on forced Khmer Rouge weddings wins award". Joe Freeman, Phnom Penh Post, December 3, 2012.. Il Documentario, December 5, 2012."Récompense internationale pour un documentaire sur les mariages forcés pratiqués par le régime Khmer rouge" . Cambodge Post, December 5, 2012."Filmmaker Says Stigma from Khmer Rouge Forced Marriages Endures". Sok Khemara, VOA, January 1, 2013. Golden Award (Mid-length competition) - Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival 2013 (Doha, Qatar)"10th Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival Winning Films" . Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival website."Red Wedding Film Wins Award in Qatar". Sok Khemara, VOA, June 7, 2013. Jury Prize - Gdansk DocFilm Festival 2013 (Poland)"Results of 11 edition of Gdańsk DocFilm Festival" . Gdańsk DocFilm Festival website. Special Jury Prize - HRHDIFF 2013 (Yangon, Burma) Best South East Asian Human Rights Film - FreedomFilmFest (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)"Winning films of the KOMAS FreedomFilmFest (FFF) 2013" . FreedomFilmFest website. Special Mention Award - Salaya International Documentary Film Festival (Thailand)"Salaya Doc 2014: Awards for Singapore, Red Wedding and Behind the Screen". Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal.
References
External links Official trailer
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) .