JAKARTA (Jakarta Globe/Pacific Media Watch): The controversial documentary The Act of Killing about the massacre of Indonesian civilians in a political purge in the 1960s has been nominated for an Academy Award
The movie, directed by Texas-born Joshua Oppenheimer, was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category alongside Cutie and the Boxer, Dirty Wars, The Square and 20 Feet From Stardom.
The nomination is timely in view of the allegations of assassinations and human rights violations in West Papua and a visit to the region by a Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) mission led by Fiji last week.
The chilling documentary focuses on Anwar Congo and Adi Zulkadry, two Medan-based gangsters, who re-enact their brutal roles in the mass killings of 1965 that left up to a million dead acrss the nation.
Premiering in 2012 at the Toronto Film Festival, the movie has since made waves and swept awards at film festivals around the world, although at home, the creators of the film opted for underground screenings before eventually making it available for free download in October.
In an official statement following the nomination, Oppenheimer acknowledged members of his crew and his co-director, all of whom have opted to remain anonymous for security reasons.
“The crews of The Act of Killing have dedicated eight years of their life for this film, despite knowing that without a substantial political change, they will not be able to receive acknowledgement for their work,” he said.
“Hopefully this nomination would push the Indonesian government to eventually acknowledge the 1965 genocide… as a moral disaster. May this nomination push more Indonesians to demand their leaders to take responsibility for their crimes.”
Earlier Cafe Pacific story
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Pacific Media Watch
