Writer and director John Severson (right) and crew film Aki Ra, founder of the Cambodia Landmine Museum, which is shown in the background.

John Severson, AB ’04, first traveled to Cambodia on a whim. During an extensive tour of the world, with the bulk of his time spent in Europe and Africa, Severson decided to experience Southeast Asia as well. Two and a half months later, he was still exploring and collecting information for the documentary films his visit inspired him to make.

“All of Asia is so different than where I had been before,” he says. “To a Western eye, to be able to just navigate without knowing a lot of the language is amazing and comforting at the same time.”

More than two years have passed since that initial visit. Severson is now the writer and director for a team of filmmakers creating two documentaries about Cambodia’s history and this nation’s reconciliation with its violent past.

The first documentary, a 12-minute short entitled Portrait of a Landmine Museum, introduces the Cambodia Landmine Museum and its founder, Aki Ra. A former Khmer Rouge child soldier, Ra now devotes his life to clearing the landmines he once helped lay.

“He was the first person I connected with while in Cambodia,” Severson says. “Seeing a guy going out into the jungle with a screwdriver and removing these mines is inspirational.”

Ra’s work with a Canadian-based nonprofit organization has led to the only known landmine museum and relief facility for children affected by landmines. It is estimated that Ra has cleared more than 50,000 mines, a small sample of which are displayed at the museum.

“Seeing a guy going out into the jungle with a
screwdriver and removing these mines is inspirational.”

“Aki Ra, on his own, has done so much to raise awareness about landmines,” Severson says.

An October 2009 release of the second documentary, a feature-length film entitled Year Zero: Story of a Khmer Rouge Soldier, is planned. The eventual goal is distribution for television broadcast. Following the story of Aki Ra, this film highlights the path that Cambodia has taken toward reconciling itself with the ruthless history of the Khmer Rouge rule. Year Zero seeks to understand the context of the conflict and the international war tribunal that followed.

To create the film, Severson spent more than eight months in Cambodia, recording nearly 125 hours of footage. The final film of more than 90 minutes drew on global resources, including the primary footage, a composer in Los Angeles, Cambodians living in Cambodia and in the United States, and more.

In guiding his films to completion, Severson drew upon interests he developed while double majoring in anthropology and film at Washington University: “Being a filmmaker had always been the ultimate goal. When I started to get into anthropology, I realized I could combine the two. I had a desire to travel and that allowed me to connect anthropology with film.”

Severson attributes his success in film to a willingness to follow through with his dreams, combined with the practical lessons he learned at Washington University. “Just being open to new experiences and getting into it in any way that you can is really important,” he says.

Referring to the inspirational story behind Year Zero, Severson says, “For someone who doesn’t know the history, this is very much the model” for dealing with the aftermath of future conflicts. By preserving and publicizing this history, he aims to illustrate the power of the individual to create change in society.

For more information about Year Zero or to see trailers of the two films, visit http://www.yearzerodoc.com.