When the War was Over (1986): Journalism into Film (Princeton French Film Festival)

Led by award-winning journalist Elizabeth Becker, author of When the War was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution (1986), followed by a Q&A. Lunch will be served to attendees.  This is an ECS co-sponsored event.

Elizabeth Becker is an award-winning journalist and historian, best known for her groundbreaking reporting on Cambodia and the Vietnam War. A former correspondent for The Washington Post and reporter and editor at The New York Times, Becker is the author of several influential books, including When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution (1986), America’s Vietnam War: A Narrative History, and You Don’t Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War. This event marks the 40th anniversary of When the War Was Over, widely regarded as a definitive account of the Khmer Rouge era. Becker was one of the few Western journalists granted access to Cambodia in 1978, when she interviewed Pol Pot alongside Richard Dudman and Malcolm Caldwell, who was killed during the visit. Though she did not witness genocide directly, Becker saw Phnom Penh emptied and staged for propaganda. Two days after her departure, Vietnam invaded Cambodia, and Pol Pot fled into the jungle.

Visit the Princeton French Film Festival webpage for the 2026 schedule.