In 2006 Pamela Masik, a contemporary artist, set out to create a large-scale exhibition of paintings focused on women who went missing over the previous two decades on the streets of Vancouver. Titled “The Forgotten”, this series of sixty-nine portraits would be based on a police task force poster of the missing women’s headshots.
In 2007, pig farmer Robert Pickton stood trial for the murders of twenty-six women whose remains were found at his farm and slaughterhouse. He would admit to an undercover police officer that he killed forty-nine. The twenty-six women identified as Pickton’s victims are included on the police task force poster and form part of Masik’s work.
Over a six year period we follow Masik and her struggle to bring this collection of paintings to exhibition, and the public outcry that follows. All of this amidst the murder trial, an inquiry into the police department’s failed investigation, and the families’ search for answers in the largest serial murder case in Canadian history.
The film raises important contemporary debates about race, privilege, art and responsibility.
