Just Being There: The Cambodian Photographs of Colin Grafton

Friday, March 13, 12:50 pm - 2:15 pm
Directed/Produced by Robert Carleton-Chhaing
2026. Cambodia/USA. 70 min.
Country/Region Featured: Cambodia | Languages: English and Khmer

Also available for virtual on-demand viewing. Register at the Film Expo desk.

In-person Q&A with Director/Producer Robert Carleton-Chhaing

Just Being There follows British photographer Colin Grafton, who arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 1973, just before the Khmer Rouge genocide, and later volunteered in refugee camps along the Thai border. Amid civil war, he captured rare, intimate photographs of daily life, revealing the beauty and humanity of Cambodia’s capital city. Decades later, the film revisits these images and the people within them, offering a powerful act of remembrance. By unveiling this unseen archive, Just Being There restores a vital piece of cultural memory, bridging loss and survival, history and healing.

Southeast Asia, Cambodia