The Missing Picture By Rithy Panh Essay

Between 1975 and 1979, an estimate of 2 million Cambodians were sent to the Killing Fields after the Khmer Rouge regime took over power. Within these fields, many people were either killed, starved, or worked to death so the regime may maintain an ethnic superiority and partake in an extreme version of Maoism. The Missing Picture and Enemies of the People are documentaries that take different approaches to tell the stories of Cambodians who were not only affected, but took part in the genocide. Both documentaries ultimately display documentary filmmaking, styles and issues that occur while making a film.

The Missing Picture is Rithy Panh’s latest work in which he uses voiceover narration and clay figurines as a substitution for the non-existing media footage to depict the personal experiences him and his family faced during the Cambodian genocide. He also uses other typical documentary devices such as archival

The two directors played a major gamble filming this documentary. They had to take into consideration that the men they were recording are providing self incriminating evidences against themselves based on their confessions of part taking in the genocide. This is evident in the scene of when Sambath and Khoun, one of the main perpetrators he interviews and follows, visit another perpetrator that was a part of Khoun’s group within in the fields. At first, the man remains silence and denies ever killing people until Khoun starts recalling what the two did in their group. Sambath also tries to ease the guy up into confessing too by reminding him he is not there to arrest the man nor is the government is after him, here is only there to seek the truth and find out why he did what he did. He could have stopped rolling and called it quits, but he continued filming. One may question whether or not something like that should have been filmed and deems it unethical, but Sambath knew he