'At first they don't believe' Surviving the Khmer Rouge

Meet the team behind At First They Don't Believe, find out what the film is about, why they made it and why they think audiences should watch the film by clicking play on the video below: 

Director - Paul A Cooke

Category - Narratives of the Past

Available to Watch - Monday 1 June 2020

Duration - 22 minutes 31 seconds

Country - Cambodia

Language - English​ Subtitles

Year - 2020

Synopsis: “At first they don’t believe” tells the stories of two women who survived the violence of the 1970s Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, Sieng Chantei and Leay Kimchhean. How have these women tried to confront their past traumas? What has the country done to help? How have they tried to make sense of their treatment by a paranoid regime that abused thousands of people like the two we meet in the film? And what does the younger generation make of their story? Building on the work of Changing the Story in Cambodia, a four year research project, and learning from, and with, the innovative work of Cambodian civil society organisations, the film illustrates the importance of young people learning about and acknowledging the stories of survivors.