Synopsis

In 1970s Cambodia, New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg covers the civil war with the help of Cambodian journalist and interpreter Dith Pran. As the Khmer Rouge takes control and foreign reporters flee, Pran is captured and sent into forced labor. Schanberg spends years trying to locate his friend, while Pran struggles to survive and escape the regime's brutal prison camps.

Factoids & Trivia

• The supplied IMDb ID, tt0087553, corresponds to The Killing Fields (1984), not a film titled Beyond The Killing Fields.

• The screenplay was based on Sydney Schanberg's New York Times Magazine article "The Death and Life of Dith Pran: A Story of Cambodia."

• Much of the production was filmed in Thailand, with additional filming in Toronto. Thailand stood in for war-torn Cambodia because filming inside Cambodia was not possible.

• Haing S. Ngor had no previous acting experience when he was cast as Dith Pran. A Cambodian doctor and survivor of the Khmer Rouge period, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his debut performance.

• The film won three Academy Awards at the 57th ceremony: Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.

• Mike Oldfield composed the score, with additional music by David Bedford. The soundtrack's most recognizable emotional cue is the instrumental "Étude," based on Francisco Tarrega's classical guitar piece "Asturias."

• The film also received major recognition at the 1985 BAFTA Awards, including Best Film and Best Actor for Ngor.

• Its closing use of John Lennon's "Imagine" became one of the film's most memorable artistic choices, contrasting an idealistic message of peace with the devastation shown throughout the story.