Democratic Kampuchea (
Cambodia) -- 1978. Three French journalists, Lise, Alain, and Paul are invited by the
Khmer Rouge to conduct an exclusive interview of the regime's leader,
Pol Pot. Over the course of several days prior to their meeting they are led through a series of staged encounters presenting the revolutionary state as a success. While Alain, a communist, appears to be highly credulous of the regime's claims of success, Lise and Paul are skeptical, seeing evidence of deception. Lise is further frustrated by their hosts' refusal to let them visit the countryside or specific individuals with whom Lise had contact prior to the revolution. Slipping away from the group's escort, Paul walks through the jungle and comes across human remains and evidence of actual living conditions concealed by the government. Paul's camera and film are confiscated by the soldiers, though one roll containing photographs of human remains is found by Lise in her typewriter. Incensed at the staging of their visit, Paul lashes out at the guards and subsequently disappears from the film, likely killed: Cambodian party officials variously claim to the remaining two journalists that he must have gotten lost in the jungle, been a spy for the CIA or KGB, or otherwise a counterrevolutionary. Lise and Alain meet with Pol Pot in a brief and heavily-controlled interview. Alain is subsequently granted a second, private audience with Pol Pot in which he expresses ideological support for the aims of the Khmer Rouge, but expresses concerns about their practices and the ability of the state to succeed. Later that night, Alain is shot by a soldier in his bedroom. Lise leaves the country alone. == Cast ==