Missing Picture, The | Strand Releasing

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Synopsis

THE MISSING PICTURE

The critically acclaimed, THE MISSING PICTURE, a 2014 Oscar® nominee for Best Foreign Language film, is filmmaker Rithy Panh’s personal quest to re-imagine his childhood memories. From the time when the Khmer Rouge ruled over Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, the only recorded artifacts that remain are propaganda footage. Panh uses beautifully detailed sculpted clay figurines and elaborate dioramas to recreate the missing images from his memory. His recollections of his family and friends before and after the regime’s rule are poignantly told through a narrator’s poetic voice. THE MISSING PICTURE is a unique documentary that manages to capture a historical moment that would never be told if not for the sheer creative mind of Panh and his innovative storytelling method.

“The most original, thought-provoking, and gut-wrenching film memoir in years”
– Tony Pipolo, Artforum

Reviews

“Powerful…human…anguishing”
– Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal

“Meticulous direction”
– Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“THE MISSING PICTURE is personal and unexpected, a documentary that mixes media in an unusual way to very potent effect.”
– Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times

“One of the essential titles in this year’s festival is THE MISSING PICTURE. Directed by Rithy Panh, this haunting, at times shocking movie – part memoir, part indictment – fills the void suggested by its title: it creates an image of madness, specifically the Khmer Rouge’s rule over Cambodia in the 1970s.”
– Manohla Dargis covering the New York Film Festival, The New York Times

“UNLIKE ANYTHING I’VE EVER SEEN,
A STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL WORK THAT COMES OFF AS BOTH HAUNTED AND CHARMED”
– Stephanie Zacharek, The Village Voice

“Personal, imaginative, and even strangely beautiful.”
– Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com

“Expressive…poetic…beautiful…harrowing…savage…melancholic”
– Jonathan Romney, Film Comment

“Meticulous direction”
– Richard Brody, The New Yorker