CAMBODIA AND BEYOND


Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Black Diamond: The Story of Chanra

Black Diamond: The Story of Chanra is a work of fiction, based on real historical events and real people. Chanra shared her stories with me. The accounts of other killing fields survivors helped me to understand what she experienced.
Principal sources of this knowledge:
‘The Stones Cry Out: A Cambodian Childhood, 1975-1980’ by Molyda Szmusiak.
‘First They Killed My Father: A daughter of Cambodia remembers’ by Loung Ung.
‘When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up under the Khmer Rouge’ by Chanrithy Him.
‘Hear Me Now: Tragedy in Cambodia’ by Sophal Leng Stagg.
And the extraordinary story, ‘Haing Ngor: A Cambodian Odyssey.’
All of these books are recommended reading. I consulted numerous other sources on the history, politics, religion and customs of Cambodia.
The film 'The Killing Fields' inspired me.
Also, the PBS documentary ‘The Flute Player,’ with Arn Chorn-Pond. Cambodia lost so much traditional music during the Khmer Rouge genocide. 

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