Rithy Panh was born in Cambodia. A survivor of the Khmer Rouge, he escaped from a labor camp and took refuge in Thailand. He studied filmmaking at the IDHEC in Paris. In 1989, he returned to Thailand to make Site 2, a film about the hardships that his compatriots have faced. His childhood memoir The Missing Picture, winner of the top prize at the 66th Cannes Film Festival, provided the foundation for First They Killed My Father, which was in the Official Selection out of Competition at the inaugural edition of GFF. His movie Graves Without a Name was also part of the Feature Documentary Competition at the 2nd edition of GFF.
