Philadelphia premiere of "WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA?"

Loud Mouth Films is proud to present the first Philadelphia screenings of WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA?, as an official selection in the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.


WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA? is a one-hour documentary thriller about the assassination of Cambodia's top labor leader and the plot to cover the tracks of the killers by framing two men. Named one of Amnesty International's top ten Movies That Matter, it is a co-production with Independent Television Services, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Though filmed mostly in Cambodia, WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA? has a strong Philadelphia connection through its producer, longtime Philadelphia resident Rich Garella. Garella moved to the city in 1983 and has lived here since then, aside from four years living in Cambodia and five in New York. He now lives in South Philadelphia, where Loud Mouth Films is based.

During Cambodia's bloody 1998 election, Garella was working as the press secretary for the opposition party. It was then that he met and worked with Chea Vichea. On a return trip to Cambodia in 2003 he met Bradley Cox, who later filmed the murder scene and went on to direct WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA?

Garella will attend all the PIFF screenings and the Q&A sessions following them.

"Vichea and Brad are both strong-willed individuals who believe in justice above all else," Garella said. "I think that's why Brad spent six years working on this film at huge personal risk and expense.

WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA? has already been banned in Cambodia. On May 1, International Labor Day, riot police pulled down the screens during an attempted public screening in Phnom Penh. Officials announced that the film was an "illegal import" and that any screenings could be prevented "wherever they are held." (sample coverage)

"Vichea's life was taken because he fought for justice," Garella said. "He wouldn't back down and we won't either."

Rather than focusing on the Khmer Rouge "killing fields" of the 1970s, WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA? takes a hard look at Cambodia today, asking how much has changed after an influx of billions in international aid and expertise. Along the way Cox's camera captures a side of Cambodian life that is largely unseen by tourists from the western world.