Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll

Before Cambodia’s fall to the Khmer Rouge forty years ago, there was joy, life, and music. The Phnom Penh pulse throbbed with spectacular talent, reverbed with Angkor Wattage, and surged from capital to countryside. Homegrown stars brought Cambodian flair and glamour to pop, soul, funk, the cha-cha-cha—and of course, rock’n’ roll. American bombs and military rule dampened the groove, and Pol Pot snuffed it out; songs of love turned to the spilling of blood. John Pirozzi’s sparkling film elegantly gives the mic to artists like Sinn Sisamouth, Ros Serey Sothea, Pen Ran, and Yol Aularong, all of whom perished in the genocide. They live again onscreen, and music again pulses in Cambodia, whose beauty is resilient.