Directed by Roland Joffé • 1984 • United Kingdom
Starring Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich

When the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh in 1975, many thought the killing would end. Instead it started a long nightmare in which millions of Cambodians would die in the “killing fields.” This haunting, brutally honest story of friendship and survival follows Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) and his Cambodian friend and translator Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor) as they cover the Khmer Rouge’s takeover—only to become caught in the violence themselves. Recreating his experiences as a real-life survivor of the genocide, Haing S. Ngor became only the second nonprofessional actor in Hollywood history to win an Academy Award for his powerful performance.