A tale of absence, the documentary “ My Father and Qaddafi ” is fashioned by debuting director Jihan as both a political and personal portrait. It comes achingly close to cohering as a singular narrative, which recounts the disappearance of the filmmaker’s father at the hands of despot Muammar Qaddafi’s Libyan regime, while also tracing the tumult that created the conditions for this tragedy.

Beginning with childhood home videos of the director, her older brother and her two older half-siblings, the film lures viewers in with its retrospective nature, framing its story as one of incomplete memories. Jihan’s father, diplomat and human rights lawyer Mansur Rashid Kikhia, can be glimpsed in old photographs, but moving images of him are limited to newsreels, official footage and videos sh

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