The Killing fields

A dramatic account of Cambodia's agony at the hands of the Khmer Rouge is recounted through the friendship of New York Times correspondent Sydney Shanberg and his Cambodian colleague, Dith Pran. Against the fall of Cambodia, the film covers the first bombing, Pran's rescue of his friend, Shanberg's failed attempt to smuggle Dith out of the country and finally, Dith's grim odyssey to survive the killing fields which claimed over three million of his countrymen. (Circulates)

Dith Pran, a Cambodian journalist and interpreter for The New York Times, was abducted by the Khmer Rouge in May 1973. Dith is turned over to the regime and is forced to live under their totalitarian regime. Two years later, in 1975, the Phnom Penh embassies are being evacuated in anticipation of the arrival of the new regime. Sydney Schanberg is furious when the international press corps arrives with the U.S. Army.