Bob recently spoke to the Cornell Daily Sun ahead of the sneak preview of Angkor Awakens in October at Cornell Cinema:
Filmmaker Prof. Robert Lieberman ’65, physics, wanted to give his audience an unprecedented, in-depth look at Cambodia in latest documentary: Angkor Awakens: A Portrait of Cambodia.
“There are a number of films about Cambodia, but there are none with this depth,” Lieberman said.
The film chronicles the history of Cambodia, including the country’s brutal genocide of three million Cambodians at the hands of the ruling Khmer Rouge. Lieberman added that the film also focuses on modern day Cambodia, in order to investigate how the country has recovered from its brutal past.
Lieberman said the genocide is part of the reason he became interested in Cambodia. As the son of Jewish parents who escaped from Vienna during the Holocaust, Lieberman said he has always been fascinated with genocides and the lasting harm they wreck on nations. However, he stresses that genocide is not the focus of his film. Rather, Angkor Awakens is “a portrait of a country.”