Dateline: May 26

Tonight Dateline is in Cambodia as families separated by the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge are reunited on a top-rating TV show, It’s Not a Dream.

Recently a Khmer variety show Penh Chet Ort (Like It or Not) on MyTV came under fire for pretending to reunite 13 year old girl with her mother, who turned out to be a comedian in drag. Her mother stayed in the US when she brought to Cambodia by her father.

Like every reality TV show, It’s Not A Dream, relies on the big reveal, but the crucial moment in this show reflects a harsh reality in Cambodia’s history.

Around 40 years ago, families were deliberately separated by the brutal Khmer Rouge regime and an estimated fifth of the population was killed.

People ended up alone with no idea if their relatives were alive or dead… or how to find out the answer.

That’s where 35-year-old TV producer Sokha Youk stepped in with a very 21st century way of helping.

“It is their last hope that they come to us,” she tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Tuesday’s Dateline at 9.30pm on SBS ONE. “Their dreams and hopes depend on us.”

And she confesses to him that the edition he’s following will be the best, and most emotional, program they’ve ever made.

“It’s a very surprising one,” she says cryptically, but won’t reveal any more.

She and much of her team are too young to remember the atrocities, but they travel the country filming the emotional appeals of people trying to find their families.

She’s heard so many stories firsthand, including from her own mother, who was the only survivor from 20 members of her household, and she’s determined to help in any way she can.

The show attracts a massive audience, hoping to see a face or hear a story that will bring them closer to finding the truth.

“Do you miss me? I’ve come to find you,” Ly Siv Hong says on camera after travelling from the US to try and trace her sister, Bo.

Returning to Cambodia brings back terrible memories of being separated from her mother and siblings.

“I really wanted to say goodbye to her, but I don’t have chance,” she says of her last memory of Bo 35 years earlier. “I can’t hold my tears when I talk about all my story.”

9:30pm tonight on SBS ONE.