The Center for Southeast Asian Studies will present a free showing of “LOOT: A Story of Crime and Redemption” from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Egyptian Theatre.
“LOOT: A Story of Crime and Redemption,” directed by Don Millar, is an investigative documentary about the Cambodian looted antiquities trade. It also shows Cambodia’s efforts to recover looted cultural artifacts that were once held in the temple ruins of Cambodia, now in the possession of museums in New York and London.
The film also profiles Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who is accused of being the mastermind behind the looting of Khmer temples during the Cambodian civil war.
Trude Jacobsen Gidaszewski, a professor of southeast Asian history, says it’s a great honor for NIU to be part of the first ever screening of the documentary in North America.
“So the fact that we were approached by the production company sort of is great. It’s a big honor to be approached by a production company that says, ‘Hey, do you want to do the first ever screening of our film in North America?’ Gidaszewski said. “But I think it also says something about NIU’s commitment to internationalization and inclusivity as well. That we don’t just sort of show mainstream things.”
Gidaszewski also discussed the importance of this film, citing a surge of people coming to an understanding of the negative effects of colonialism.
“The world over kind of like the last 10, 15 years has been coming to a reckoning of some of the lesser known side effects of colonialism,” Gidaszewski said. “The British, the French, Spanish, Portuguese, basically everybody at some point went and either invaded or took over by other means, another country, and in doing so, these colonial powers helped themselves to the past of the people that they were oppressing.”
Gidaszewski encourages people to come and see the film as attendees have the opportunity to understand the culture of Cambodia and its art from a local and global perspective
“This is an opportunity to see a documentary film that has not been screened anywhere else in the United States. It’s free, and people often associate Cambodia just with kind of violence and genocide when there’s so much more to it,” Gidaszewski said. “So Cambodia files people who are interested in Southeast Asia, people who are interested in art, people who are interested in crimes being committed on a transnational scale. I think there’s something for everybody in there, and certainly the discussion afterwards should prove to be quite likely.”
If you want to watch the trailer and gather more information regarding the film you can visit lootfilm.com.
