Dith Pran, Cambodian journalist and inspiration for the film The Killing Fields, has died of cancer. He was 65.
In 1975, Dith worked as a translator for NYT reporter Sydney Schanberg during Cambodia’s slide into Khmer Rouge madness. After the fall of Phnom PenhSchanberg was unable to get Dith out of the country. After four years of living with the brutal communist regime, he managed to escape after an incredible cross country journey. His story inspired the Oscar-winning movie, named after the term he coined for the mass graves he witnessed while fleeing through Cambodia.
Dith was a both a courageous journalist and human being. If you haven’t seen it, I really recommend checking out The Killing Fields. It’s one of my favourite films, a moving chronicle of a horrible time and the extraordinary people who witnessed it.
UPDATE: Check out Dith Pran’s ‘Video Obit‘ at the NYT.
Photo: Dith Pran and his wife Ser Moeun.
I went to Cambodia in 2002, and watched The Killing Fields before I left, and again after. It was excellent.
Actually, I happened to be there on the day they were dismantling the skull map in Tuol Sleng prison. It was my first experience with a “media frenzy.”
Anyways, Dith Pran was a good man, and still quite young. It’s very sad.
I had the opportunity to see Dith Pran talk at the Carleton School of Journalism back in 1987 (I saw him twice actually). His talk was moving and inspirational.
He was, indeed, a courageous man and he will be missed.