Building from trauma. Representation and testimony in The Missing Picture (2013) by Rithy Panh

Abstract

The Missing Picture (2013) by Rithy Panh is one of the most celebrated non-fiction works in contemporary cinema that attempts to reconstruct traumatic images from the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge regime. This article analyses the film from a cultural studies’ perspective on memory and trauma using a methodology based on textual analysis. Our research hypothesis is based on the idea that Panh’s non-fiction proposal in the film does not consist so much in searching for an absent image (or images) from the Cambodian genocide, as suggested by its title, as to propose an adequate methodology for witnessing personal trauma that may apply to similar phenomena. To argue in favour of this, we propose an analysis based on three elements: the representations of the perpetrators, the inclusion of fantasy in the film's narrative, and, finally, the creator’s metaphorical apology of the testimony. Beyond verifying the hypothesis, the main conclusion is that the testimony arises as a duty and a necessity in the face of traumatic acts, which can be represented through various cinematographic forms.