Enemies of the People

A decade-long quest to uncover the confessions behind Cambodia’s genocide

Enemies of the People is a powerful British-Cambodian documentary directed by Thet Sambath and Rob Lemkin that confronts the hidden truths behind the Khmer Rouge genocide. Between 1975 and 1979, the Maoist regime led by Pol Pot executed an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians, accused of being “enemies of the revolution”. Among the victims were the parents and brother of Thet Sambath, who decades later began a personal mission to understand the motives behind the mass killings.

Starting in 1999, Sambath spent ten years gaining the trust of former Khmer Rouge officials at all levels, from field executioners to the highest-ranking surviving leader, Nuon Chea—known as “Brother Number Two”. Through patience and empathy, he achieved what no journalist or tribunal had done before: recorded confessions of direct involvement in the massacres. His conversations reveal not only orders and justifications but also guilt, trauma, and attempts at reconciliation from those who once carried out the killings.

Co-directed and filmed by Rob Lemkin, the documentary combines this groundbreaking investigative work with an intimate portrait of a man confronting his own loss. The film premiered at IDFA in 2009 and was later shown at Sundance and more than eighty festivals worldwide. Praised for its fearless journalism and emotional depth, Enemies of the People stands as one of the most significant cinematic records of Cambodia’s path toward truth and remembrance.