Cambodia from then to now:
memory and plural identities in the aftermath of genocide

May 5th, 6th and 7th, 2011, Concordia University, Montreal

Montreal, Monday, February 28th, 2011 – The international colloquium Cambodia, from then to now:
memory and plural identities in the aftermath of genocide will take place at Concordia University,
Montreal on 5th, 6th and 7th May, 2011. The event is being organized by the Cambodian Working Group
(www.curakhmer.org), part of the Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) Life Stories of
Montrealers displaced by War, Genocide and other Human Rights Violations (Montreal Life Stories)
based at Concordia University.
The colloquium will gather more than twenty artists and directors, as well as a large number of western
and Cambodian experts across a range of disciplines (history, law, psychology and sociology). Invited
guests include the celebrated French-Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh, winner of several international
prizes and a regular guest/participant at the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival. The
conference will also host the French-Cambodian comic book artist, Séra and the American-Cambodian
economist and genocide survivor, Sophal Ear. The anthropologist Alex Hinton and The New York
Times journalist Elizabeth Becker, both specialists in Cambodian history, will participate as well as the
former Co-Prosecutor at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) Robert Petit.
This bilingual (French/English) colloquium aims to foster a deeper understanding of the various ways
the Khmer Rouge genocide has shaped Khmer identity, both in Cambodia and in the diaspora.
This event will be a rare opportunity to explore Cambodian history and the life stories of Cambodian
Montrealers through the testimonies, lectures, films and theatre extracts that have emerged from the
Montreal Life Stories project over the last 4 years.
Montreal Life Stories (www.lifestoriesmontreal.ca/en) is a five year project led by 40 academic and
community researchers and around 20 educational, artistic and human rights organisations attached to
Montreal’s ethnic communities (Jewish, Rwandan, Cambodian and Haitian etc.) The aim of the project
is to collect the oral histories of Montrealers. Their stories are filmed and digitized, and will serve to
create a « memory bank » accessible to all.

- May 5th, 2001 Opening night: Cinémathèque Québécoise, 335, boul. de Maisonneuve East, Montreal
- May 6th, 7th, 2011 Colloquium: Concordia University, 1455, boul. de Maisonneuve West, Montreal
- General Public: $20 / 3 days - Students: $10 / 3 days (student card is necessary)

For more information, please contact:
Marita Arnold (English), (514) 564-7015; maritaarnold@gmail.com
Nolsina Yim (French), (514) 312-5046; yim@nolsina.com
Ravann Runnath (Cambodian), (514) 812-4683; r.runnath@gmail.com
www.curakhmer.org/media