Cambodia in the ’60s and early ’70s was home to a vibrant and incredibly unique popular music scene. Exemplified by artists such as Sin Sisamouth, Ros Serey Sothea, and the Thra Kha band, the music seamlessly melded traditional Khmer melodies with elements of rock and roll, latin rhythms, crooner-style vocals, electric organs, and the occasional fuzzed-out guitar solo. The enthusiastic and open approach audible in recordings from the time generally leaves fresh ears with the feeling of a revelatory experience. Devastatingly, the rise to power of the totalitarian Khmer Rouge put an end to this creative era as they systematically executed (or otherwise “made disappear”) most of the popular musicians, along with roughly a quarter of the entire Cambodian population. As noted in the trailer for this documentary, “If you want to eliminate values from past societies, you have to eliminate the artists.” Luckily for us, great art is not so easy to silence.
—Stefan Grabowski, Boston Viewfinder
Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll
2014
dir. John Pirozzi
105 min.