Rock 'n' Roll 'n' Blues Women!

During the 60's and early 70's, as the war in Vietnam threatened its borders, a new music scene emerged in Cambodia that took Western rock and roll and stood it on its head - creating a sound like no other.

Cambodian musicians crafted this sound from the various rock music styles sweeping America and England, adding the unique melodies and hypnotic rhythms of their traditional music. The beautiful singing of the renowned female vocalists became the final touch that made this mix so enticing.

But as one segment of Cambodian society–young creative musicians in particular–embraced American culture and flourished under its influence, another was decimated and demoralized by America’s massive aerial bombing of the Cambodian countryside. This propelled the rural population to rise up and join forces with Pol Pot’s ultra-Maoist army, the Khmer Rouge, who would eventually dismantle and destroy the country.

After taking over the country on April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge began wiping out all traces of modernity and Western influence. Intellectuals, artists and musicians were specifically and systematically targeted and eliminated. Thus began one of the most brutal genocides in history, killing an estimated 2 million people - ¼ of the Cambodian population.

Combining interviews of the surviving Cambodian rockers themselves with never-before-seen archival material and rare songs, DON’T THINK I’VE FORGOTTEN: CAMBODIA’S LOST ROCK AND ROLL tracks the twists and turns of Cambodian music as it morphs into rock and roll, blossoms, and is nearly destroyed along with the rest of the country.

This documentary film provides a new perspective on a country usually associated with only war and genocide. By celebrating this powerful music, and the people who created it, Cambodia's musical heyday emerges from the shadows of tragedy into the light of historyMORE

Rock n’ roll arrived in Cambodia by way of France, which had remained friendly with Cambodia after granting its independence in 1953. With the encouragement of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, a steady influx of French pop culture flowed into Phnom Penh’s cinemas and record kiosks along with American radio programming broadcast from nearby Vietnam. Combined with a lively dance club scene in the capital, a rich and vital music scene flourished in the jewel of Southeast Asia, first in the form of romvong and cha-cha dance rhythms. Not much later, rock appeared in the form of big-band arrangements in the fashion of Carlos Santana, pop in the fashion of French superstars like Johnny Hallyday and the saravan-style love ballads that still dominate Khmer pop music.MORE