The priceless artistic treasures of Cambodia made during the Khmer Empire have long been the object of theft, as well as of imitation and forgery, with most of the trafficking going through the neighbouring Thailand, which has a Khmer heritage of its own.
This film by French TV in 1998, while Cambodia was still unstable politically, and while looting was still at its height, examines the history of this problem, and what measures were beginning to be adopted in the country to prevent the loss of their precious heritage.
Along the way we see some of the best of Khmer art works, and hear from the people charged with cataloguing and protecting what remains. As we can see at that time, although it was only 25 years ago, it was still very dangerous, owing to mines and the risk of attack outside the main centres.
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