- Cambodia
THE MISSING PICTURE
Synopsis
In 1975, the Khmer Rouge seize power in Cambodia. Rithy Panh is a child when his family is deported from Phnom Penh – into forced labour, hunger and fear; his parents and siblings do not survive the years under Pol Pot. Panh searches for an image that captures this suffering, and finds none. So he makes it himself: with small clay figures he arranges in dioramas, scenes of happiness before the catastrophe and of cruelty afterwards. “The Missing Picture” (L’image manquante) by Rithy Panh, Cambodia/France, 2013.
The motionless figures are set against previously unseen Khmer Rouge propaganda footage, accompanied by a first-person narration. Panh does not tell the story of those who were murdered, but of those who survived as children. The film won the top prize of the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in 2013 and later became the first Cambodian film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. “The Missing Picture” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2013.
Festival
Shown at the 2013 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.
