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Don Millar

LOOT: A Story of Crime and Redemption

52' & 87'

Don Millar

A daring look at the underbelly of the global art market, from remote Cambodian villages to billionaires and elite art institutions in New York and London, LOOT is a daring look into the underbelly of the multi-billion-dollar art market and the deadly reality behind "blood antiquities" filling Western museums today. Orchestrating a lucrative criminal network during the Cambodian Civil War, British "adventurer-scholar" Douglas Latchford led a team in the looting of thousand-year-old temples buried in landmine-riddled jungles.

LOOT features unprecedented access, including to "Blue Tiger," a child-soldier-turned-looter now working to bring artifacts home, and the Cambodian investigators as well as the American detective who organized "Operation Indochina Peninsula Plunder," which led to Latchford's indictment.

The film tells the gripping story of the contrast of rich and poor as viewers learn about multi-million-dollar sales of works looted by Cambodian farmers paid $20.00 per week while risking their lives.

Viewers are also taken behind-the-scenes as stolen pieces are returned to Cambodia, including some arriving from New York's Met Museum in July 2024. With thousands of pieces still overseas, Cambodia's relentless struggle continues against the most powerful figures in the art world today. In the context of decolonization, LOOT is a story of redemption for a small country with a troubled past that is slowly winning the battle to bring their gods home.


FILM DETAILS

Title: LOOT: A Story of Crime and Redemption

Genres: Crime, History, Current Affairs and Art

Languages: English, Khmer

Year of production: 2025

Country of production: Canada

Director: Don Millar

Don Millar draws on expertise telling compelling stories about art and artists, as well as his immersive experience in the international art world. He is the director of the 2018 feature documentary BOTERO; additional credits include RIDE THE VIBRATIONS (2021) and A FINAL SKETCH (2025). He is co-creator of the digital series ART SNAP. Don is also a former board member at the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver) and an Ambassador for HET HEM (Amsterdam). Don is a lens-based artist.

Producer: Cole Northey, New Theory Pictures


VISUAL FEEL


Festivals

International Premiere: FIFA (Montreal)

Asian Premiere: CIFF (Cambodia)

Balinale (Indonesia)

Australasia Premiere: Doc Edge (New Zealand)


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