Good morning, I am going through my documentary topics again and trying to review the gaps in my documentaries. So today, I am going to follow David Adams on a trip to Cambodia. This is called the Lost World of the Khmer Rouge and the run time for this documentary is 50:22.
Cambodia is a place of jungles and ruins. It was the place of the god-kings. Monks still seek peace in these jungles. This land is finally opening up and revealing its beauty. For thirty years, the jungles and the country have been cut off from the modern world and during that time it was a Khmer Rouge stronghold. David Adams penetrates these jungles to meet with former Khmer Rouge militants to enter these last bastions. He visits the final resting place of Pol Pot. Now the purpose of the Khmer Rouge is to protect the jungles, however, as Adams discovers are not as easy to get into as it seems. David kicks off this documentary by traveling with soldiers who are putting up trail cameras to capture photos of rare and endangered animals. After this, he goes to a market that sells rare animal parts. He is with two guides and they wish these guides wish that this trade was shut down. Many of the animals were valuable in traditional Eastern medicine. Sometimes these markets have counterfeit animals. Adams learns about one of the mythical animals of Cambodia. Adams joins up with an expedition to learn more about Cambodia’s endangered animals. Cambodia used to be part of French Indo-China and the architecture is a mixture of South East Asia and European. Adams makes his way to Angkor Wat by boat because the waterways are the most efficient way to travel. He spots fishermen on the water. Then he arrives in Angkor Wat. It was the capital of the ancient Cambodian empire. The temple is visited by tourists; however, Adams takes in the city that surrounded the temple. It was a large city that had a population of one million people. It was one of the largest cities in the Ancient World. Adam views a radar map of the site and these radars show the old roads and buildings. However, Angkor Wat would die and be one of the biggest cities to die. After a trip to Angkor Wat Adams continues to make his way through the Cambodia jungle. In this section, he learns more about Pol Pot. He would eventually grow up to become a killer in a peaceful country. When he became dictator of Cambodia, he would cause chaos. He drained the city population and forced the people to work in the fields. He wanted to create the perfect peasant society in Cambodia. He gave the world the name “killing fields.” As Adams goes into Khmer Rouge territory, he can’t help but feel a sense of dread. Adams continues his way up the mountain. They pass along checkpoints and Adams sees signs of war all over. Adams makes his way to Pol Pot’s headquarters and along the way, they encounter former soldiers of the Khmer Rouge. Eventually, a soldier is invited to come along to help ease their way into Khmer territory. Eventually, Adams stops at the headquarters of Pol Pot. It was where he spent his last days and where he died. Millions of death happened under Pol Pot’s regime. The legacy of Pol Pot looms over Cambodia. After this trip to the grave, Adams meets up with former Khmer Rouge soldiers, who now work with the wildlife conservation society. They were the best hunters and now they work to conserve the jungle wildlife. They set out cameras to learn what animals still remain in the jungle. Adams has to be careful where he walks because there are still mines in the field. Every day someone in Cambodia a landmine explodes and maim someone. To learn more about Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge tune into the rest of this episode to find out more. I forgot that I really enjoy listening to David Adams’ narration. He really cares about his topic and is curious about what he encounters. This was really well done, but I would show this to a geography class and not a history class.
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The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |