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US
journalist Sydney Schanberg, whose reporting inspired the Oscar-winning
Hollywood film, The Killing Fields, has died at the age of 82, the New
York Times reports.
journalist Sydney Schanberg, whose reporting inspired the Oscar-winning
Hollywood film, The Killing Fields, has died at the age of 82, the New
York Times reports.
Schanberg worked for the Times and won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting the fall of Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge in 1975.
His colleague, Dith Pran, was unable to leave and his four-year ordeal inspired Schanberg’s work.
Schanberg died in Poughkeepsie after a heart attack earlier in the week.
His death was confirmed by Charles Kaiser, a friend and former Times reporter, the paper said.
In
1980, Schanberg described his Cambodian colleague’s ordeal of torture
and starvation at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in a magazine article,
and later a book called The Death and Life of Dith Pran.
1980, Schanberg described his Cambodian colleague’s ordeal of torture
and starvation at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in a magazine article,
and later a book called The Death and Life of Dith Pran.
Oscar awards
In
1975, Schanberg and Dith Pran ignored directives from Times editors to
evacuate and stayed in Cambodia as almost all Western diplomats and
journalists fled.
1975, Schanberg and Dith Pran ignored directives from Times editors to
evacuate and stayed in Cambodia as almost all Western diplomats and
journalists fled.
Both were seized by the Khmer Rouge and threatened with death.
Dith
Pran’s pleas saved Schanberg’s life. The pair took refuge in the French
Embassy but Dith Pran was forced to leave and sent into the
countryside.
Pran’s pleas saved Schanberg’s life. The pair took refuge in the French
Embassy but Dith Pran was forced to leave and sent into the
countryside.
Two weeks later Schanberg was evacuated by truck to Thailand.
Dith Pran eventually managed to escape to Thailand and died in 2008. It was he who coined the term “killing fields”.
The
Killing Fields won eight BAFTA Awards and three Academy Awards. Sam
Waterston played Schanberg in the movie, with Haing S Ngor, who won an
Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, in the role of Dith Pran.
Killing Fields won eight BAFTA Awards and three Academy Awards. Sam
Waterston played Schanberg in the movie, with Haing S Ngor, who won an
Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, in the role of Dith Pran.
The
Khmer Rouge was the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, during
which it was responsible for one of the worst mass killings of the 20th
Century. The genocide claimed the lives of more than a million people –
some estimates say up to 2.5 million.
Khmer Rouge was the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, during
which it was responsible for one of the worst mass killings of the 20th
Century. The genocide claimed the lives of more than a million people –
some estimates say up to 2.5 million.
Under
the Maoist leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge tried to take Cambodia back
to the Middle Ages, forcing millions of people from the cities to work
on communal farms in the countryside.
the Maoist leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge tried to take Cambodia back
to the Middle Ages, forcing millions of people from the cities to work
on communal farms in the countryside.
But
the attempt at social engineering had a terrible cost, and whole
families died from execution, starvation, disease and overwork. BBC
the attempt at social engineering had a terrible cost, and whole
families died from execution, starvation, disease and overwork. BBC
