Khmer Rouge's takeover of Phnom Penh recreated for Angelina Jolie-directed film

[geovalin]

The moment sends a chill down the spine of many Cambodians.

Early on the morning of April 17, 1975, battle-hardened young fighters of the Khmer Rouge guerrilla army began silently filtering into the capital Phnom Penh, which had been besieged for five months.

Many city dwellers cheered, hoping it would be the end of a civil war that had cost half a million lives.

First They Killed My Father, directed by Angelina Jolie, filmed in Battambang, Cambodia. Photo: Facebook

But it was to be the beginning of a four-year nightmare that left an estimated 1.7 million people dead from starvation, disease or execution as the Khmer Rouge emptied cities and tore up money in a disastrous attempt to create an agrarian utopia.

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Now almost 41 years later, photos have emerged on the internet of a dramatic recreation of that day – stirring memories of the genocide – despite that the producers of the Angelina Jolie-directed movie First They Killed My Father kept paparazzi away from the set.

"Seeing these scenes, remembering the true story during that regime … the pain and will never be forgotten," posted one Facebook user.

excellent and long article from

Lindsay Murdoch South-East Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media

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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/khmer-rouges-takeover-of-phnom-penh-recreated-for-angelina-joliedirected-film-20160215-gmu7g3.html#ixzz40JVpmEd6
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