Directed by Enrique Sánchez Lansch • Documentary • 2024 • 101 minutes
Chea Samy was a renowned soloist in Cambodia’s royal dance ensemble in the 1930s—and Pol Pot’s foster mother. After marrying his older brother, she raised him as her own until he vanished into the underground. In 1975, like millions of Cambodians, she was forced into labor, only realizing years later that the boy she raised was the Khmer Rouge leader. One of the few dancers to survive, she returned to Phnom Penh to teach, preserving traditional dance. Her student, Sophiline Cheam, now a successful choreographer, explores Cambodia’s past, including Pol Pot’s little-known connection to classical dance.
Up Next in Dance
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Young, Black and Gifted: Diversity at...
Directed by Virginie Plaut, Youcef Khemane • Documentary • 2025 • 58 minutes
At age 20, Guillaume Diop risked his career to sign a manifesto against racism at the Paris Opera. But just three years later, he was named a Danseur Étoile — a star dancer — in the Paris Opera Ballet, one of the world’...
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Gallant Indies
Directed by Philippe Béziat • Documentary • 2022 • 109 minutes
Based on Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera-ballet that was directed by Clément Cogitore for the Opéra National de Paris.
In 2019, eight opera singers and 30 dancers from a wide variety of artistic and demographic backgrounds convened at ...
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One Day Pina Asked (Chantal Akerman)
An encounter between two of the most remarkable women artists of the 20th century, ONE DAY PINA ASKED... is Chantal Akerman's look at the work of choreographer Pina Bausch and her Wuppertal, Germany-based dance company. "This film is more than a documentary on Pina Bausch," a narrator announces a...
