19/02/2014 - Oscar nominee The Missing Picture, Claire Simon’s Human Geography, and true stories behind Dog Day Afternoon and Argo among the festival’s titles

Oscar nominee The Missing Picture will be highlighted in the festival’s Recordings of Memory section

Nearing its curtain call, the 16th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (14-23 March) is slowly pulling back the veil on some of the hottest titles to be included in one of the Mediterranean’s most prestigious documentary gatherings.

Nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category after having picked up the UCR award in Cannes, Rithy Panh’s Franco-Cambodian co-production The Missing Picture [+see also:
trailer
film profile], an autobiographical chronicle of the Cambodian Khmer Rouge regime employing clay figurines and archival footage, will be highlighted in the festival’s Recordings of Memory section. 

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Also in the same section, Drew Taylor and Larry Weinstein’s documentary Our Man in Tehran will recount the true story that inspired Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning Argo. Presenting the events that took place before and during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the documentary revolves around Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor and his government’s co-ordination attempts with the USA in order to save the six American diplomats hidden in the Canadian Embassy in Tehran. 

Featured in Stories to Tell, Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren’s The Dog will also be focusing on the true story behind a major motion picture: John Wojtowicz, joined by family and friends, narrates his life before, during and after the bank heist he performed in order to fund his lover’s sex-change operation, resulting in the sensation that inspired Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon.

Among the European documentary productions, Helena Trestikova’s Vojta Lavicka: Ups and Downs, screening in the Portraits section, will be presenting snaps of Roma life in the Czech Republic via the portrait of the titular musician, journalist and activist. Meanwhile, Claire Simon’s Human Geography will be showcased in the Habitat section, focusing on the Gare du Nord station in Paris, as a companion piece to Simon’s latest fiction film, Gare du Nord [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].