The Missing Picture

This uniquely moving film uses clay figures, archive footage and narration to tell Rithy Panh’s account of the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. The technique works brilliantly, with silence, black clothes and dreary expressions on the clay figures epitomising the horrific dehumanisation of the forced labour workers. This is deftly contrasted with washes of colour and music in flashbacks of parties and film sets from Panh’s childhood, representing the vibrancy of the nation before the Communist Party of Kampuchea took over. A harrowing film with a clear and effective artistic vision to provide the ‘missing picture’ of a starving nation behind the propaganda movies produced by Pol Pot.

Duke’s At Komedia, 4 February 2014

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This screening was part of Picturehouse’s Discover Tuesday strand – where a different arthouse, foreign language, indie or documentary film is screened each week.