The Killing Fields (1984)

The Killing Fields is a term coined by Dith Pran to describe the mass grave sites in Cambodia that he trekked through in his escape from the Khmer Rouge regime.  Pran is played by Haing Ngor, a doctor, who is one of only two non-professional actors to win acting Oscars (the other is Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives).  This movie tells about the experience of journalists in Cambodia in the run-up-to and during the Khmer Rouge regime.  It details the deterioration of civilized life and the terrible labor camps that were part of the Year Zero policy.  What is most devastating is the persecution of educated people like Pran, and the subsequent necessity to hide their skills.  The movie is suspenseful, tear-jerking, and brutally stares war right in the face.