Elizabeth Becker’s award-winning journalism career began in Cambodia, where she worked as a freelancer for the Washington Post in the early 1970s. She was one of only three foreign journalists, along with Malcolm Caldwell and Richard Dudman, to meet Pol Pot, the reclusive Khmer Rouge leader.
Caldwell, a Scottish academic and vocal Khmer Rouge supporter, would be murdered in Phnom Penh soon after the group’s December 1978 interview. Becker and Dudman, miraculously, escaped unharmed.
The deadly events hang as the historical backdrop to Rithy Panh’s latest film, “Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot” — or “Meeting with Pol Pot,” in English — which opened in Cambodian theaters Aug. 9.
Sart Botuma, a journalism trainee at Newsroom Cambodia, spoke with Becker about the career-defining events and the film they inspired.
Q: What was it like meeting Pol Pot?
A: I was intimidated and fascinated. In 1978, the crimes, death and depravity of the regime were still largely hidden, so I didn’t know what to expect. I was surprised at his charming smile and his outward appearance. He was well-dressed, well-groomed. Then he began lecturing me and I understood how paranoid and unhinged he was.
Q: How do you view post-war Cambodia? Especially the young people?
A: I’m glad Cambodians are learning their history, and that there are greater attempts to help them heal. However, to do so requires the freedom to ask questions, the freedom to be honest about feelings and to be allowed to become adults who can heal and think for themselves. I fear that freedom does not yet exist.
Q: What is it like seeing your work come to life on the big screen?
A: I am honored and grateful. And I’m also humbled that Rithy Panh made a feature movie inspired by my life and work. In “Rendezvous,” he expresses the truth of my visit without it being tied down as a documentary. Instead, it is a thoughtful, imaginative, frightening and ultimately humane story that captures so much of what I went through. I was in tears watching it at the premier in Cannes.
Q: What are your expectations for the film?
A: I expect Cambodians to embrace this movie. It was celebrated in France, drawing large audiences to theaters and receiving excellent reviews. In Cambodia, I imagine “Rendezvous” will be seen as a masterpiece. It is a very original depiction of that still unimaginably horrific chapter of Cambodian history – suspenseful, a work of art – I don’t know how he did it, but Rithy Panh is a national treasure.
